Covert Siege
by Hrymeigh
Summary: An unknown tribe asking for Hiccup's help, Stoick falling mortally ill and brooding civil war. All the work of one man only, who remains in the shadows. Set directly after Race to the Edge. Disregarding HTTYD 2. Rated M for explicit content (in-story warnings in bold).
1. Chapter 1: Fire and Ash

The end of the Edge. This was it. Huge clouds of fire and ash gathered over the island as the volcano burst. A shellfire dragon mounted with as a machine of war was deviously abused by Viggo Grimborn in an attempt to once and for all end Hiccup Haddock and his gang of dragon riders. This was the Edge, masterwork of the twenty year old heir to Berk. The home for his gang as they were discovering more and more of the world. Their base of operations was not just a bunch of houses and fortifications built on the side of a cliff, held together by transport ladders and sliding ropes. It had been their home. Had been, yes, as it was now about to be destroyed.

A great tremor passed through all. Everybody stiffened and looked up. Behind the Edge, they saw a great black mass being exerted from the mountain. The earth shook. Toothless immediately grabbed Hiccup and forced him to sit upon his back. He nudged his head trying to indicate: "Get out of here, now!" in every possible way. Hiccup snapped out of this sudden fear and took off.

"Everybody," he yelled, "Get to your ships! The mountain is about to erupt. Sail, if you wish to survive!"

To illustrate his point, at that moment the mountain let out a huge roar, coming from the depths of Niflheim, suddenly unleashed in a no longer speechless world. It was followed by an explosion and part of the mountain turned to grey smoke, hurdling to the west coast of the island.

Dagur quickly took over the call. "Head for Berk! Head for safety!" Hiccup swirled over the island looking for any stranglers. To his surprise there were some dragon hunters actually trying to barricade themselves against the volcano. And they were using the trees. "Idiots", Hiccup thought, and he yelled, "Are you really going to fight fire with trees!? Get out of here!" He moved in and Toothless grabbed two of them. The other ones quickly turned around and ran to their ships.

"You idiots actually think you can stop this surge with chopping down trees? Get to your ships and head for Berk. Get yourself to safety!"

The dragon hunters mumbled a little "thanks" when dropped on the beach.

Hiccup flew back again. The dragon hunters made him wonder. Where are Fishlegs and the baby eruptodon? He moved towards the centre of the volcano, where he and Astrid had witnessed the departure of Viggo. Half the cliff had vanished, and much lava was pouring out of the caldera.

"Curious, didn't see that from afar," said Hiccup to Toothless. "You thinking what I'm thinking, bud?"

And surely it was there, the eruptodon greedily and happily ate every last drop of lava as it came pouring downhill. It was like a true feast for them. But behind them Fishlegs was half conscious on the back of Meatlug, urging them on to save his friends.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup shouted, frightened he might collapse due to the hot air and toxic fumes "FISHLEGS!"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled back. He was ecstatic to see him, obviously. So much so that he did in fact almost drop off Meatlug. "Y- y- you're alive!"

"Yes, I know! No follow me, and get the hell out of here!"

"No, Hiccup, I need to make sure the baby eruptodon is fine"

"You can barely stand yourself! To them this is a feast! Now get a good hold on Meatlug, and follow me. That's an order!"

Meatlug practically flew after Hiccup alone, caring not in the slightest what his rider wanted him to do. So they got out alright.

Hiccup climbed a little higher to get a good overview of what was going on. Behind him the volcano continued to erupt, with an added tremor now and again. Lucky for him, there were not much boulders flying around. Yet. The Edge lay in ruins. That was not wholly surprising, and they themselves were largely responsible. But now half of it had collapsed in on itself, and a secondary lava flow now went straight for the Edge. Doomed, that was. In the docks, at the bottom of the docks, every dragon hunter tried to escape, many of them being escorted by a dragon rider. "Good," Hiccup thought. "They finally see some sense." He and Fishlegs flew down to the rearmost ship that just raised its sail. It was guarded by Dagur and Shattermaster.

"The Edge is lost, dad! We need to get out now. Lava is coming this way!" said Hiccup

"Shattermaster, push!" Shouted Dagur in his ever tactful way to his steed.

In response Shattermaster thrust himself against the last ship, springing the ropes that bound it to shore and sped it forward. A few of the hunters that did not see this coming lost their balance and fell overboard. Toothless quickly grabbed them and put them back aboard.

"Great one brother. Maybe next time a bit more subtle?"

Dagur said something inaudible in response.

"Can we all get them to Berk?" Hiccup said

"Sure. You fly ahead and make everything ready. I'll get this bunch of backstabbing, dragon hating, damned sons of …"

"Dagur, they are not our prisoners! They just followed Viggo's orders. They'll be no problem. We must have peace now! Just try and be nice. Please?"

"Alright Hiccup, see you back home."

At that Hiccup flew to the start of the column and found the yellowish-blue colours of Stormfly. He flew towards it. Now he could discern the shape of his girlfriend, but she was… fighting!? "Faster, Toothless."

He jumped off Toothless in quite an agile move, landed on the spot just 2 feet in front of Astrid when she was about to strike someone with her axe. "Hiccup!" Two voices shouted in dismay. "You just ruined our fight." He turned around to find Heather standing there with her double axe waiting to parry Astrid's blow.

"O, hi Heather. Milady." Hiccup said with a very red face. Even redder when he saw that he landed in a place that was very likely to be axe-torn in the very near future.

"You idiot, I almost had her!"

"Don't make me laugh, Astrid," said Heather. "Like you would ever get a shot near me."

"Let's take a break, shall we?" said Astrid. Heather just nodded, grinning from ear to ear, knowing she scored a point against her friend, if only a mental one.

Astrid quickly punched Hiccup, hard in the upper arm. "That's for ruining my fight."

Followed by a deep kiss that made Heather look away, red as a tomato. "Guys, come on, I'm right here!" She looked away, but only became – were it possible – even redder as she looked straight in the face of Fishlegs. Quickly she turned back to the snogging couple.

"And that," Astrid said, "is for everything else. I'm glad you're still alive, Hiccup."

"We need to get to Berk. Fishlegs, Heather, stay here and keep an eye out for Snotlout and my dad. These hunters are not to be harmed."

"On it, Hiccup."

"Milady, if you would join me in flight?"

"If you can keep up."

A few hours after they left, Hiccup and Astrid flew over Dragon Island and made a final resting spot there, to eat a little. The two of them told their dragons to stay behind and moved into the very heart of the caldera, where the red death used to live, and saw how beautiful everything now was. Of course, it was still a volcano, and the lava at the bottom was not really friendly, bubbling a little bit every now and again, but it did add to the charm of the place. Plants started growing inside the caldera and making a lush green edge at the top, that reflected the late afternoon light into the dense and heavy atmosphere inside. The bubbling lava acted as the crackling sound of fire in a cold winter night. And it teemed with life. Everywhere they looked they saw dragons. Mostly boulder class, of course, but some of the nadders and monstrous nightmares that used to be commanded by the red death still roamed these caverns. It was delightful. Even the smell of sulphur in the air was hardly noticeable with the greens on top. Hiccup wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and gave her a wee kiss on the cheek.

"If it is going to happen, now is the time, Hiccup," he thought to himself, and whilst they stood side by side gaping at the scene in front of them – so raw, yet so beautiful – he started to hum. Well, at first. Looking for the words his father once told him. Eventually the words formed in his mouth and even before realizing it he sang softly:

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning…"

Still not looking at her, but staring blankly ahead of himself. Astrid heard him, and started to blush. He was doing it! He really was!

"… and gladly ride the waves of life, if you would marry me."

Now Astrid was utterly flustered. She knew the text, of course, but to hear those words coming from his lips was like a waterfall of soft kisses over her body, followed by goose bumps forming from her neck downwards.

"No scourging sun, nor freezing cold will stop me on my journey. If you will promise me your heart, and love …"

Now Hiccups voice stalled, he no longer had the breath to sing. Astrid turned aside and made him look at her, before she sang:

"And love me for eternity. My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I've no need for mighty words when I feel your arms around me."

As if to illustrate this specific point, she literally fell into Hiccups arms, making him hold her in a reflex so she wouldn't stumble.

Hiccup now looked her straight in the eye and sang on:

"But I will bring you rings of gold, and even sing you poetry, and I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me."

Now they both laid down on the rocky floor Hiccup playing with Astrid's hair and she feeling the muscles on his arms and breast.

"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry, I only want your hand to hold, I only want you near me."

As she sang she thrust herself on top. It slowly became a wresting contest. Astrid was not going to let Hiccup be on top!

Now they both sang:

"To love and kiss, to sweetly hold for the dancing and the dreaming, through all life's sorrows and delights, I'll keep your laugh inside me."

Volume moved up, as the wresting continued, as together they sang:

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning. I'd gladly ride the waves so white, if you will marry me!"

Finally Hiccup was on top, with his arms pressing hers to the ground. Astrid on her back, defeated, let out a small sigh: "Yes," was all she uttered.

A heartfelt kiss followed, and like everywhere here too they fought for dominance. As their tongues twisted and saliva mixed, it was Astrid who finally succumbed to his invasion. By allowing him dominance over her mouth however, she used this as a small diversion to gain momentum and throw over their positions, so she was on top. Now she was where she belonged. He gave himself to her, and it would only be a matter of time before she'd return the favour. But she had the power. That she now knew for certain. And he as sure as anything he knew that too. They spent another half hour just lying there in each other's arms, enjoying the lofty rustling of the wind on the top of the mountain and the small explosions like kindled timber reaching up through the caldera. The last rays of the sun slowly disappearing over their heads.

Now Hiccup and his newly made fiancé made their way off Dragon Island. Twilight barely showed as they reached Berk. There Hiccup took charge, ordering all preparations for a great feast to be held the next evening. A celebratory one, in honour of the victory he just achieved and the peace he established between the tribes of the Dragon Hunters and Berk. And a third reason appeared this night.

Today was memorable. Tomorrow would be historic.

And some feast it was. Such a feast as had only seldom been seen in Berk, or the Archipelago for that matter. It plundered half the store house on Berk, but everybody agreed it was well worth it. The moment Hiccup and Astrid returned from the Edge, the Berkians started preparing for the feast. A feast for not just the people of Berk. About three hundred dragon hunter soldiers would be present as well.

It was the third hour since midday when Windshear carried Heather as an avant-garde to Berk. She told Hiccup that the fleet was one hour out. And indeed, the first ships were now visible on the horizon. Preparations began. The Great Hall was still sober, though lighted by many candles, and made ready for the peace talks. Meanwhile the entire village was decorated, and the people in town were nothing short of ecstatic.

When everybody arrived, the two highest ranked people among the dragon hunters sat down in the Great Hall around a large table, specifically reserved for important meetings. To the right of them sat the Berserker chief, Dagur the Changed, and his sister, Heather. On their left sat the chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk, Stoick Haddock the Vast, alongside his second-in-command, Spitelout Jorgenson. On the opposite side sat the heir of Berk, as leader of the dragon riders, and de facto chief of the Edge, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, alongside his fiancé, Fearless Astrid Hofferson. Quick introductions showed that one representative was named Lars Grimborn (this would be Lars number 1), nephew to the late Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, and his companion was named Harald Ingvarsson.

"Representatives of the Dragon Hunter Tribe, welcome to Berk," stated Stoick, as host. "After one year of war the people of our tribes deserve peace. Yesterday you have lost a great many men, amongst which your chief and his brother, in the assault on the Edge. We hereby offer our condolences for their untimely demise. This is not the first peace talk to occur between our two tribes, but may this be the last one, and let us ensure that we come to a mutual understanding."

Lars nodded in agreement.

"Peace indeed is what we strive for. Not only have we been led to a dramatic defeat by my uncle, looking around on the island of Berk we see we have been misled when it comes to our understanding of dragons. My uncle was a truly gifted and wise man, but he had one flaw. He did not understand that care and compassion can be strengths in a leader, and no one has more clearly illustrated that to us then young master Haddock here. By your leave, Chief Stoick, we would ask the help of your son, in teaching us this new, strange way of living in peace with dragons."

"That," said Stoick, "unfortunately is something I cannot grant you. We have just fought a war, and insight in our dragon knowledge…"

"Kuch," Astrid coughed.

"Right," Stoick continued, "his dragon knowledge, would require trust, which is yet to be earned."

"That I understand completely, Chief Stoick," said Lars. "However, there is another issue for us that bears on this. Our tribe has been dependant on my uncle for near on twenty years. And though Harald and I stand here before you negotiating, we are only soldiers, and speak for the dragon hunter army. We are as of last week – since the attempted coup d'état by Ryker – in fact leaderless, and our people need a chief. We would ask Hiccup Haddock to claim that title. He has claimed absolute victory over my uncle. He has a right to it, and my people are in dire need of leadership."

It was quiet around the table. As many talks as Stoick had had over the years as chief, his jaws gave way, and he sat, staring with open mouth at the person who made this request. Hiccup said nothing and just sat as if deep in thought. After about half a minute, Heather was the first to break the sudden silence.

"If I may, Dagur,"

Dagur nodded.

"Master Grimborn, Hiccup has been your tribe's prime enemy for nigh a year. Do you think your people will even acknowledge him, let alone accept him as chief?"

"Miss Heather, I would not lie to you. It is a great change for my people, and I do not think it will be an easy step, for all. But we have need of true leadership, and a guide so to speak. I believe my tribe will be far better off with a former enemy at the reins, even as vassal to Berk, than in absolute anarchy. It will take a while, but we will adapt, I am sure of it."

"I am sorry," Stoick began, "but I simply cannot …"

"On two conditions," Hiccup interrupted. "I am not going alone."

"Of course not," said Lars.

"And there will need to be a change of name. Can't have the entire archipelago call you the Dragon Hunters, if you no longer hunt dragons."

"Ah. Good point. So we have a deal?"

"Then by your leave, dad, I will bring Astrid, Heather, Fishlegs and our dragons, to help rebuild the dragon hunter tribe. I will leave Snotlout in charge of the academy."

"Master Grimborn, we have a deal." Stoick stated at last.


	2. Chapter 2: True Strength of Will

That practically ended the important talks. In a few minutes the ceremonial cups were brought out. After the toast, the agreement was done. Hiccup and his friends were to leave by the end of the week.

At the feast the announcement was made. Hiccup, Astrid, Heather and Fishlegs were to leave with the dragon hunter fleet in three days. Snotlout was named to be in charge of the dragon riders on Berk and the Academy – a huge step forward for this Jorgenson and his grin did not disappear the entire day. (Ruff and Tuff tried, and failed miserably…) Peace was declared between the two tribes and …

"… and now one more thing I have to mention," said Hiccup. "As a select few of you may be aware, I have been getting rather close to a certain female from the Hofferson clan."

Cheering throughout the masses.

"And I am a very happy man to be able to tell you now, that she has agreed to marry me. Astrid Hofferson and I are officially engaged."

A toast was called for, followed quickly by another and another and by nightfall most of the men could no longer walk straight. Stoick was especially proud of his son. The Pride of Berk, as he called him. Hiccup and Astrid spent the first few hours of the party dancing together, and talking to curious villagers, receiving compliments and very hastily gathered presents for the engagement of the heir of Berk.

After a few hours they took to themselves and together with Toothless and Stormfly they flew to Raven Point.

"Hiccup?" said Astrid worriedly.

"I know, Astrid. I want to help them. I have fought against tradition all my life. Now I have the opportunity to make a difference. I have to try."

"I know, Hiccup. But how are you going to do this?"

"I cannot do it alone," said Hiccup, "I need your help, Astrid. I know I can do it, but not alone. I have no plan yet, but I have to try."

"You can count on me. I love you"

I love you too."

The next day Hiccup and Toothless led the exodus of dragon hunters off Berk. Heather, Fishlegs and Astrid already beginning to introduce the dragon hunters to their dragons. Many of the soldiers were already quite used to dragons of course, but they were keen to learn more. It was gratifying to see the expressions on their faces when Astrid pulled the I-drop-off-my-dragon-Stormfly-catch me-trick and the trust Heather put in the abilities of Windshear. Fishlegs went from ship to ship answering any questions and showing off how cute Meatlug could be. It went great. Many of the hunters actually grew to like the riders and their dragons, despite their recent hostilities, within two days! Within the two days' travel to Thor's Wrath, even some of the hunters sought out Stormfly to pat her and give her some chicken. Needless to say, every move near their dragons was relentlessly observed by their riders.

After two days of sailing, the column reached the Port of Thor's Wrath. Hiccup was escorted to the meeting hall. It was packed. Every single person on the island had come to see Hiccup, and was curious to know what he wanted. Fear was on many a face, as they saw that behind the four riders stood four terrifying dragons, free and unchained. As he stood before his 'new' tribe, he began his address:

"People of the Vile Vagabonds Tribe. For those of you who do not know me, I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son and heir to Chief Stoick Haddock the Vast of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe on the island of Berk, and chief of the Dragon Riders. Before I state my purposes here, I wish to give you my condolences for the loss of your chief, Viggo Grimborn. Though we were adversaries, I had the greatest respect for him, and I regret that he came to an untimely demise."

Hiccup now held a polite silence, and looked down. After about ten seconds he looked around and saw everyone still anxious, waiting for Hiccup to continue. Some bowed their heads as well, in reverence to the late Viggo Grimborn.

"I have been asked during the peace talks to help you rebuild your tribe. I have agreed to take up that task, and get you to become a peaceful and prosperous tribe. That includes peace with the dragons."

Some murmuring started at him mentioning this.

"Believe me if when I say, Toothless is probably my best friend. He is not my dragon. We are partners. Controlling dragons by breaking them and caging them is powerful, yes. But it is not strong enough. We can show you what you can achieve if you befriend dragons. If you let go of your fears and show them they can trust you. Once trust is established, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you. It takes a great amount of will to establish dominance. It takes strife, and constant fear. But true strength of will is humility, trust and vulnerability. Allied to a dragon there is nothing you can't achieve. This will be our quest in the coming weeks."

"Will we learn to ride them?" said Lars.

"Eventually, maybe," said Hiccup, "but trust must be established. Not only between you and the dragons. Also between you and me. We have been at war for nigh on a year. I am willing to go through great lengths to help you, but you must show me you can change, that you are willing to follow me."

He now looked sternly across the room. Meatlug was now getting a little antsy. She licked Fishlegs, and he started to brush her.

"Are you willing to learn?"

"Aye" came from the hall, as the entire village proclaimed in one voice.

"Good. Then allow me to introduce my companions. With me are Astrid Hofferson, my fiancé, so don't get any ideas. She rides a deadly nadder called Stormfly. Then we have the sister to the Berserker chief, Heather riding Windshear, a razorwhip. Her blade is sharper then the tail of her dragon, so please stay on her friendly side. Last is Fishlegs Ingerman and ahum? Fishlegs?"

"O sorry, Hiccup." Fishlegs stated. He was busy grooming his dragon, whispering loving words. Meatlug had her most adorable-looking face up, lying on her side, as Fishlegs was tickling her underbelly. Quickly he stood up, whispering to Meatlug:

"Sorry girl. We'll continue in a moment"

"Please stay with us." said Hiccup, as he turned back to the masses, who could barely keep in their laughter.

"So, Fishlegs Ingerman and his gronckle, Meatlug. They have perhaps the closest bond a rider can achieve with his dragon. He knows everything about every dragon we know of, so don't hesitate to ask him if you have any questions."

The talk worked well. The fearful expressions on the Vagabonds faces had disappeared and they seemed to settle with the fact that this was going to happen. And if it was, they'd better change with them. In the following weeks, Hiccup was mostly busy doing his chiefly duties like gathering food for the freeze and dealing out judgement after little skirmishes. Astrid, Heather and Fishlegs took up most of the dragon retraining. They still found some highly abused dragons locked in the prisons, and used them for training. If they could earn these tortured dragons trust, they could overcome any challenge. Within a month the first riders started bonding with dragons, and Astrid started teaching dragon flight classes.

Meanwhile, Heather and Fishlegs started hooking up. They could no longer deny it, they were in love with each other, and openly confessed that to one another.

Astrid and Hiccup lived in a newly built house, complete with stables beside it for Toothless and Stormfly, and a smithy in the back, that Hiccup used in his few hours of freedom. Fishlegs and Heather also lived together, in much the same setup – just without the smithy. Things appeared to go well with all of them.

Terror mail was established within the first week, to communicate with Berk. Snotlout's leadership over the dragon academy seemed to go fine, having some minor issues when it came to teaching the kids about trust, but with some help from Stoick, all was quickly settled.

About three weeks after Hiccup took up his place in Thor's Wrath, a terror mail reached him announcing the departure of the Defenders of the Wing. A letter by Queen Mala stated she would search for a new home way out of the archipelago, thanking Hiccup for all he had done, with a special section of the letter directed to Snotlout, which made him blush as unvikingly as could be imagined when he read it.

A few months passed without incident. The wedding between Hiccup and Astrid was to take place at the beginning of winter, which was now some two months out.

It was just after midday meal when a terrible terror reached Thor's Wrath. One bringing bad news from Berk. Stoick was very ill. The letter, written by Gobber, urged Hiccup to get to Berk as swiftly as possible. Within the hour, Astrid and Hiccup left the Vagabonds for Berk.


	3. Chapter 3: Stubbornness Issues

It was well after nightfall when Hiccup and Astrid reached Berk. In fact it was closer to midnight when they finally landed in front of Gothi's hut. They had decided to first check there, since the letter clearly stated Stoick was ill. Unfortunately nobody was there. They moved on to the great hall, underway checking to see any sign of their chief, but nothing.

As soon as they entered the Great Hall, they saw a bunch of people sitting around a large table, talking in hushed whispers. As soon as the people noticed Hiccup and Toothless, utter silence fell.

"Lad!" The voice was Gobber's. "It's good to have you here, lad."

"What is going on, Gobber? Can I see him?" said Hiccup

Gobber led the two of them towards the centre of attention. There he lay, Stoick the Vast on a bed in the middle of the hall. His face deathly white. He appeared to not to move at all, his entire body frozen like chalk stone. Slowly a tear began forming in Hiccup's eyes.

"Is he …?"

"No, lad. He is still alive, but only just. We have no idea what is wrong with him. Gothi has been examining him for two days now, scribbling only that she has never seen something like this before."

Slowly Hiccup saw his father attempt to breathe. A slow inhalation of air, followed quickly by a slow groan as his lungs pumped the air out again. Followed by about twenty seconds of absolute silence. Then once more he saw his father breathing. Thus Hiccup watched how his father lay. It could have appeared peaceful if not for the deathly glare and the extremely slow breathing.

"Get us some privacy will you," said Gobber to the rest of the village. "You should better stay, lass," he said.

Silently everybody left the Great Hall, until only Gobber, Spitelout, Astrid and Hiccup were left.

"I'm sorry about all this, lad." Gobber said. "But he is a fighter. Wouldn't call himself ill, even if he could see himself. And were he, he would fight it with every fibre in his body. Now Spitelout and I have to talk to you lad."

"Hiccup," Spitelout began, "as Stoick is unfortunately not able to do anything at the moment, it is Viking law that his heir takes over temporary command until he recovers."

Hiccup just bowed his head.

"Will he recover?" asked Astrid.

"We do not know, lass," Spitelout answered. "We have never seen this illness before. Even Gothi does not recognize the symptoms. We do not know what it will do to him, and when or if he will get better. I have managed the town the last two days, but you are now our chief, Hiccup."

"I am not," Hiccup whispered under his breath. Now louder he repeated: "I am not your chief. He is, still." he motioned towards Stoick. "But if I am to be acting chief, so be it. Tell me, when did this first happen? Do you have any idea how he got it? Is the village in danger?"

"It was quite suddenly, actually. It was in the morning, two days ago, when I saw your father, as he started his patrol. Couldn't keep his food in, and started to act strangely. We put him in a bed, and that was pretty much it. The first few hours he could still talk, but we have not had any contact since. Once he stopped talking, I sent the terror mail. Ever since he has been silent, breathing steadily, but slowly, and hardly a pulse to be felt."

"Well, if there is nothing we can do for him here, we have to go look for a cure. Maybe he ate something. Maybe the winds brought the illness here. We have to find out. At all cost we should know if this thing can plague the entire archipelago. We should keep him secluded, but watched."

"I'll go find a cure, Hiccup," said Gobber. "I'll take a boat with Gothi and get sailing until I find someone who can help."

"No Gobber. We can't spare both you and Gothi. You wait for Trader Johann. Is he not supposed to be in town tomorrow?"

"You're right, Hiccup. I won't come back until I know more, you can be sure of that."

A groan from Stoick alerted them.

"He is still fighting, he is," said Gobber. "And don't you dare stop breathing until I come back!"

Another groan. Not necessarily in response, but at least it was comforting.

"S.. s…" was all that they heard.

They hurried towards him.

"S.. s… son," he said.

"Dad!" said Hiccup.

"Son." it came out as no more than a sigh, a whisper.

No more came out of him that evening, nor the following week. As soon as Trader Johann heard what had befallen the Chief of Berk, he offered to take Gobber to nearby ports to go and ask for help. Stoick attempted to fight with whatever life was still in him. People marvelled at this. This man did not know how to quit, or his body would have passed the gates of Valhalla already. But no defeat did he acknowledge. A foe beyond his strength was tearing him apart from the inside.

Hiccup spent a few hours every day sitting by his father, hoping for another sign of recognition, but his eyes were blank, his body unresponsive. He did still breathe in this slow and steady rhythm, and at times he thrust around an arm, or exerted a groan, but no more than that came out of him. So strong a Viking as he was, so steadfast and sturdy, brought low. But still, in this state he would not be brought down. He refused to give up. He fought.

After two weeks, Hiccup took over completely and sent Snotlout to help out Heather and Fishlegs on Thor's Wrath.

No change befell Stoick in the next month, when preparations for Hiccup and Astrid's wedding started. Some of the townsfolk wondered at this, but to them Hiccup always had this reply:

"What would he have wanted? Better to have something to celebrate while he is still with us, then to wait endlessly, until his spirit gives in."

On Thor's Wrath, Stoick's falling ill was known, but just as on Berk, life continued. Fishlegs and Heather had continued training the Vagabonds, and when Snotlout arrived, management of the town was continued as well.

Fishlegs and Heather had become very close, so close in fact, that is was now common knowledge around Thor's Wrath that the two had an intimate relationship. When this first reached Snotlout, he fumed as if he had changed skins with Hookfang. He went straight to Heather to confront her. He rattled on about how she couldn't do this to him, that she was in love with him, and she only did this to make him jealous. Heather was dumbfounded.

Not a day went by without a declaration of love from Snotlout to Heather. He could not give up on her. She was his to be, whether she knew it yet or not. And if she didn't, he would make her know it.

At night, he would walk a little too often by their house on patrol. On days, he would ask after her, and wanted to know whatever she was doing to be reported immediately to him. After a week Fishlegs and Heather confronted him together.

"Snotlout!" they yelled as they saw him peeking around a corner.

"Heather!" Snotlout responded heartily, going over into what almost sounded like a hiss, "and Fishface. What do you want? I am busy you know. Can't you see that?"

"Snotlout," Fishlegs started, "we know you have been trailing Heather since you came to this island. Please stop doing that. She is mine. She is my girlfriend. Will that finally get into that thick skull of yours? She is mine."

"Don't be ridiculous, Fishface," sneered Snotlout, "Do you really believe that this stunning beauty here would even notice something like …" and as he gestured to Fishlegs, he pulled the most disgusted face he could muster. "… this?"

"Snotlout!" Heather now began. "Don't you dare say anything like that again, or we will meet. Just the two of us. And I can assure you, you will not like it. Now get going, and take care of the food. The storehouse is getting low on reserves, I noticed."

"But Heather, I love you!"

"And I do not love you! You irritate me more and more. Do you want to find out how sharp my axe is, Snotlout?"

As she said this, her voice was so cold and calm, she radiated wrath off her, such that Fishlegs winced and it made onlookers walk just a bit faster.

"Heather, please!"

"Girl," was all she had to say, and Windshear hit him with her tail so hard that he flew thirty feet through the air, landing upside down against the wall of the nearest house.

Fishlegs and Heather then just walked away from him. They went to the meeting hall to eat their dinner.

Snotlout felt humiliated. He always took their violence happily, hers and Astrid's. He knew Astrid would go for the highest position, so when she picked Hiccup that did not come as a surprise. But Heather choosing Fishlegs over him? That was inconceivable. He felt betrayed and hurt. She had humiliated him in the town he was supposed to rule, for all to see.

He would gain revenge for this, and she was the prize.

"Of course she doesn't choose Fishlegs over me! Who would? She is trying to bait me. I should have accepted the challenge. I should have showed her what this Jorgenson has to offer her! Hookfang, come here!"

He flew to the meeting hall, and ate his dinner. Apparently Fishlegs and Heather had left early.

So he decided to see if they were at their house. When he came close, he thought he heard something.

"Now, Fishlegs!" said Heather in a hushed voice.

A whisper so full of love, it was, that Snotlout almost backed off.

Next thing he heard was something that sounded like loud panting and small whispers.

"No way is this happening" thought Snotlout. "She must have heard me coming. She is teasing me, by seducing Fishlegs!"

He then decided that tomorrow afternoon, he would confront her.

The last thoughts that entered his mind that day were:

"I don't care what that Fishface did to her. She will be mine, and none others'!"


	4. Chapter 4: The First Seeds of Discord

**Well, hi there. I started writing this whole story three days ago, and nobody has proofread this. Please, by all means post your reviews. I'd love to get better!**

 **Note on the text: next chapters alternate scenes between Berk and the Vagabonds' point of view.**

 **Another note: text has been pretty T-rated so far. M-rating is for future chapters. I will warn you when things get hot or bloody.**

As Snotlout woke up the next morning, he quickly got himself dressed and got to the meeting hall. He had a grin on his face. His plan could not fail. In a few hours he would show Heather his skills, and she would have no choice but to be his. All he had to do was find Heather, and meet up in the ring. It was flawless!

After finishing up, he went to find Heather. She and Fishlegs had apparently already left their home. After asking around, he gathered that Heather and Fishlegs were giving flying lessons Lars and five others. So, no Heather this morning then.

He went to the docks to check on the ships. They all lay peacefully there in the natural bay. Next stop, the storehouse. Heather had sneered to him yesterday that there was insufficient stock, so he better check it.

On his way to the storehouse, I saw someone walking up to him confidently.

"Chief!" he said

"What is it?" Snotlout answered. He really felt good every time they called him "chief".

"Could you teach me some flying lessons?"

"Why me? I am busy. I think you need to talk to Heather and Fishlegs." Snotlout replied "And who are you anyway?"

"I am Harald. I was at the peace talks," he said. "But great mercy of Thor, I saw how you ride your monstrous nightmare. You look like a king on him. Heather and Fishlegs do not understand. I want a real leader to teach me!"

That was about as much flattery to get Snotlout to do anything for you, so it should not be surprising, that Snotlout grinned from ear to ear, and said:

"Then, my friend, what are you waiting for? Bring your dragon and report at my hut in half an hour."

"Yes, chief!" said Harald, and he quickly sprinted away.

"Hookfang!" yelled Snotlout. "Come here."

And he added with a grin: "Get us home, Fangster. It's time to show everybody what a Jorgenson can do. Snotlout, Snotlout, Oy, oy, oy!"

Harald was obviously eager, and showed up ten minutes early accompanied by his dragon. Snotlout looked around to find the dragon. It took him a while to see it. Harald had bonded with a changewing.

"Alright, recruit," started Snotlout, "mount up!"

The dragons leapt off the ground, the changewing following Hookfang.

"Hookfang, flame up!" Snotlout ordered.

The changewing was scared out of his wits by the sudden outburst of flame, and started flying erratically to the ground. Pretty much as Snotlout expected. He flew after it.

"Lesson one, control your dragon," said Snotlout. "Last thing we need in combat is a dragon that runs off when it sees fire. Again!"

Hookfang flamed up and let out a large roar. Harald stood before his changewing and yelled to the monstrous nightmare:

"I am not afraid of you. Come here if you dare."

As he shouted this the changewing realised he was not afraid of the fire. Slowly the shy beast came over to Harald, more determined with every step, until he screeched though the air. It was followed by a roar from Hookfang.

"Great!" said Snotlout. "Now, mount up and follow me!"

Once more they leapt off the ground and Harald and his changewing trailed after Snotlout. After doing some drills with him, checking his manoeuvrability and drilling him through some combat tactics. Around midday Snotlout and Harald went to the hall to eat.

"Chief," Harald began, "I could not help but notice, yesterday, that you had a certain conversation with the other dragon riders. We do not really understand that. Can they always address their chief in this fashion?"

"Harald," said Snotlout, "You're absolutely right. Yesterday was a moment's weakness, and today I am making a point. This afternoon I am fighting Heather. After that fight she will be mine, and have no more care for Fishface."

"Are you sure she will be yours, sir?"

"Of course, she loves me! She just tries to make me jealous. It's just her version of foreplay."

"But surely, master Fishlegs will not give up so easily?"

"He will, you'll see. Once she tells everybody how much I impress her, and how much she loves me, Fishlegs will just cower and walk away. You know, she even seduced that guy because I was within earshot. She is feisty, and devious. But she is mine!"

At that last statement he slammed his fist on the table. Several people nearby looked up, but as nothing interesting was happening they quickly continued eating. What Snotlout did not notice however, was the devious smile appearing, only for a second or so, on Harald's face.

Just as Snotlout walked out of the meeting hall, he saw Heather and Fishlegs standing near the stairs, giving some last-minute tips to their new recruits. He stepped up to them and just said:

"Heather. Ring. Two hours."

Then he whistled for Hookfang to patrol the island, and left a flabbergasted bunch of people to their own business.

Heather left their apprentices to go for lunch in the meeting hall. She was going to need it. Why did Snotlout want her in the ring this afternoon. Was he really that stupid? Was he really trying to win her over by fighting her? A quick questioning of the still eating Vagabonds in the hall confirmed her suspicions. Somehow, this idiot was convinced she'd fall in love after fighting him. How more clearly could she state she belonged to Fishlegs? Even last night, when Fishlegs and she were making love, she heard him outside, so she made a little too much noise, knowing he would hear it. Was that not enough of a hint to him? Did that not ring a bell? She wanted Fishlegs!

Too bad. She didn't want to fight the fool, but now she had no choice. She'd humiliate him in front of the entire village if it had to come to that. No way was she falling for this ploy.

The two hours had passed and Snotlout was ready for her. All warmed up and ready to kick her butt. The deadline was almost reached when surely Heather showed up. She was followed by Fishlegs, Windshear and their recruits. She had taken them with her to teach them a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat.

"Stay here, girl." she said softly to Windshear. "Snotlout! You can still back off!"

"Never!" Snotlout yelled back. "You want to see the Snotman in action, right. You got it. You can see me up close. Come on sweetheart, let's dance!"

Heather rolled her eyes

"He is insane!" she thought, and readied her axe.

She waited for Snotlout to try and hit her, offering him a fair chance. Snotlout ran towards her hurling his axe towards her. She lifted her own double axe and parried his blow. She sought his axe, and when it touched, nudged it only slightly making Snotlout lose his balance, and falling flat on his face.

"Is this supposed to impress me, Snotlout? I thought you wanted to fight?"

"Hrrrumpf" was all that came out of him. As soon as he stood up, he once more slashed into the direction of Heather. Now she did not even try to block him. She dodged the blow hitting him full in the side with her own axe. Snotlout staggered. Once again he lifted his axe over his head to strike, only to leave his entire body vulnerable to attack. Heather used the time she had to hit him hard, in the groin, followed by her axe coming down even harder to his side. Snotlout collapsed to the ground, knocked out because of the pain.

Then Heather left the arena, only looking back once to say:

"I thought you were tougher than that, Snotlout. I had hoped for a challenge…"

Snotlout was wroth.

"Harald!" he yelled. "Get me Heather and Fishlegs."

"On it, chief."


	5. Chapter 5: Blessing of the Ash Tree

"Vikings! Ye Elders! Lads and lasses! Chieftains, travellers and guests from afar! We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of the Chief of Berk and all its holdings, son of Stoick Haddock the Vast, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and his union to Fearless Astrid Hofferson, shield maiden of Berk. And between you and me, both of them pain-in-the-butts."

Cheering everywhere! Some disapproving scowling at that last statement, but well, that was to be expected from a Thorsten.

"Before we start the ceremony, I have to tell you that our wedding ceremonies have undergone a make-over since the last time. Well, the last that actually succeeded past rehearsal… Anyway, one change in ceremony has been ordered by the chief himself, in that weddings can be attended by dragons, as well as people. Of course, only dragons with an invitation can enter, or if they are vouched for by an invitee."

Tuffnut chuckled a bit. This was great. Half a year ago he went to study under Gothi and Spitelout to learn how to perform religious rituals. At first it seemed to him like the ultimate joke, if he could Loki everyone in Berk by threatening with Odin's wrath. But after a week or so, it actually appeared he was good at it, and he started to accept it as a possibility for a job. Surely he graduated, and stayed on as official weddings performer.

Tuffnut added: "Oh, and burned invitations don't count!"

That was the straw for Hiccup. He could no longer contain himself, and laughed along. He actually wanted Tuff to shut up and start the rituals, but he couldn't help but finding this joke hilarious.

After the clamour calmed a bit, Tuffnut continued: "The second change in protocol is a mystery, and I urge you all to lay back and let the ceremony unfold."

"Now, may I have all of your undivided attention please? This is a union, not just between two people, but of two houses as well. Can the Haddock representative please approach?"

Nobody moved. Until silently Gobber rose and approached, carrying a bundle of many-hued cloth. He had returned from his quest to find a cure for Stoick, after Hiccup asked him to perform this role. Within the hall his slow thumping wooden leg tore the silence. Everybody knew this was difficult. Hiccup and Stoick were the only two left from that house, and the latter sat half comatose in the front row of the onlookers.

"I, Gobber Borkson of the House of Bork the Bold, do hereby represent the House of Haddock, in absence of the elder."

"Bringeth forth the ceremonial axe, Gobber Borkson," said Tuffnut.

Gobber looked at the cloth. Tears were coming from his eyes, looking at the insignia at the centre. He was carrying the ceremonial axe of the house of the chiefs of Berk. A higher honour could not be possible. He slowly unwrapped the cloth with a special pair of thongs made especially for this occasion. After the axe lay bare, he gave the axe to hiccup, still laying on its wrappings, but for all to see.

It was a straight-handled axe, but golden-engraved and silver-lined. Red colours accentuated the holy runic symbols engraved between.

"I thank thee, Gobber Borkson." Tuffnut declared. Gobber turned around, and slowly stepped back towards his place in the crowds.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," Tuffnut stated importantly, "whom do you name as your witness?"

"I name to be my witness Chief Dagur Berserk of the Berserker tribe."

"Chief Dagur Berserk, please approach."

Dagur left the rows, clad in his ceremonial armor, blueish of tint, with an engraving of the skrill on the left breastplate. He stood himself next to Hiccup, and Hiccup gave him the bundle with the ceremonial axe to hold.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, whom do you name as witness on behalf of the bride?"

"I name to be my bride's witness, Heather Berserk of the Berserker tribe."

"Heather Berserk, please approach."

Heather was absolutely stunning. Wearing only a light blue dress, accentuated by a silver white buckle, as a symbol of her maidenhood. Of course she was far from a maiden, but tradition was still tradition. Her jet black hair flowing over her shoulders, her eyes gleaming. She stepped up to Tuffnut, then to his side.

"Will the representative of the Hofferson tribe please approach," Tuffnut declared.

Slowly an old woman stepped up, walking steady, despite her age. She looked older than Gothi, but she was a true Hofferson. Nothing could bring her down. She laughed at age, and the problems that brought with it.

"I, Ingrid Hofferson, do hereby represent the House of Hofferson," she stated. Not a broken sound was heard. Her voice rang as clearly as it would have forty years earlier.

"Bring in the bride, Astrid Hofferson," Tuffnut ordered the old lady.

Slowly, but strongly Ingrid Hofferson walked to the back of the masses, disappeared from view, and returned a couple of seconds later leading a shape in complete white forward. Step by step, foot for foot they walked through the masses. Astrid wore a dress of pure white wool. Her maiden buckle around her waist, and a tiara of white flowers covering her flowing golden-blonde hair.

As she reached Tuffnut, she curtseyed and then went to stand beside Heather.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," Tuffnut began, "Is this your preferred bride?"

"It is."

"Astrid Hofferson, is it your wish to be the wife of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third?"

"It is."

"Representative of House Hofferson, do you agree to the union of your house and House Haddock?"

"I do."

"Representative of House Haddock, do you accept Astrid into your house?"

"I do."

Tuffnut looked at Astrid now.

"Then hereby, by the power vested in me by the tribe of Berk, with Frigg and Odin as my witnesses, I pronounce your name to henceforth be 'Astrid Haddock'. I also pronounce your marriage to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third to be complete."

Suddenly, as Tuffnut said that last word, the dragons at the back, Stormfly, Toothless, Windshear and Hookfang let out simultaneous blasts into the air. Their combined fire formed a rich palette of colours and each fire bolt slowly fading away in small stars. Three times they spewed, and afterwards the firelight tradition was long held in custom.

Hiccup now thanked Tuffnut and stood before him. Everybody fell silent. Now he turned to Astrid.

"Do you, Astrid Haddock, accept the responsibilities of governing the island of Berk, and all its holdings in my absence? And do you swear to fulfil your duties as chieftess of Berk to the best of your abilities?"

"I do, my chief."

"Then, as chief of Berk, hereby I pronounce you, Astrid Haddock, chieftess of Berk."

At that the ceremony was complete. Astrid was led out of the masses by Hiccup and together they walked to the forest. There Hiccup cut a branch off an alder tree with the ceremonial axe.

"This ash tree represents the tree of life, Yggdrasil between the nine worlds. And as the tree of life is above time and space, so all of its branches will be. Take the branch and be blessed."

Tuffnut let out a sigh of relief. That was the last bit he had to say. He quickly disappeared following the smell of roast boar and yak butter parfait.

Everyone else started congratulating Hiccup and Astrid. A great many gifts were bestowed upon the new couple. So much I fact, that Hiccup started wondering about what the real reason was he had to have witnesses. Probably because he couldn't carry all those gifts himself. After the whole town had congratulated Hiccup and Astrid, the two of them went to sit by Stoick, hoping to get some sort of sign. Nothing happened.

Gobber said goodbye to the newlyweds. He and Trader Johann would continue their quest to find a cure. He had some news of traders down south who may have seen a like illness, so he would follow up on that lead.

After a few toasts, several dances and a lot of food later, the sun slowly set over the horizon to the west. Hiccup and Astrid left the party and went to their house.

Once inside, Hiccup kneeled in front of Astrid, without saying a word and slowly undid her maiden belt, letting it fall to the ground.

He lifted her dress over her head slowly until she stood before him naked. He slowly caressed her body. Starting at her shoulders he slowly went downwards, over the very sensitive spot between her breasts and armpits, by passed her breasts only to enjoy a ride over her belly.

This went way too slow for Astrid. She pulled him towards her and kissed him deeply. Now, with the ferocity of Astrid's kiss, Hiccup finally quickened his pace.

It was not long before fell in bed naked.

Outside they only heard them too well. The fight for dominance had begun, even in the bedroom. Astrid needed to be on top. And Hiccup loved to challenge her. After an hour or so, the sounds slowly settled down, and people no longer blushed upon walking by.

A few hours later Fishlegs hit the front door, hard.

"Chief, wake up! Hiccup!"

Hiccup woke up and saw once more the beautiful body beside him. Then hearing another "Hiccup, come out!" form Fishlegs, he quickly got dressed and moved to the door.

"What is it?"

"Chief, an unannounced visitor just moored in the docks. He asks for you!"


	6. Chapter 6: Berk's Call-to-Arms

It really was pitch black outside when Hiccup was rudely awoken. If only this would happen on any other night. Why did it have to be this one? He whistled for Toothless, who was already awake. He took a spare torch from his house.

"Light it, bud!" he said.

Toothless set the torch alight. Fishlegs led him towards the docks. As they reached the walking planks heading down, Hiccup saw a ship, standing out in the darkness by its many torches. A few people walked to and fro on deck. Hiccup tried to discern the insignia on the sails, but no such luck in this light. Next he looked to the ship. It appeared to be a Viking-made ship, but certainly not from the archipelago. It was far more streamlined and the bow was sculpted in the shape of a woman in her prime. No Viking tribe would sail with such a ship, he was sure. There were two rows of oars on either side of the ship, one above the other, with at least twenty in a row. At least, as far as he could spot in this dense darkness, this looked like a great warship. But if the amount of people on deck was any clue, it was not fully manned by a long shot.

Presently Hiccup reached the docks and as he approached the ship, the enormity of it all became apparent. The bust at the bow was indeed shaped like a female warrior, as life-like as possible, and to scale. Her feet stood about 5 feet above sea level, her flowing hair towered some 2 meters above his head.

Hiccup stepped up the gangway and boarded the ship, flanked by Fishlegs.

"Who are you, and why have you entered Berk waters without my permission?" Hiccup said.

One of the ship's crew hailed him, importantly stepping forward.

"I am Gosnar, Captain of this vessel, are you the chief?" he said.

"I am." said Hiccup, "Tell me, where are you from, and why have you come here?"

The person who identified himself as Gosnar walked towards a hatch to the lower floors, and tapped shortly. In response, it opened and another person got out. It was a woman. What's more, due to the curtseying by the crew this was a woman of high stature. She approached Hiccup.

"I am sorry to have to disturb your rest, Chief …" she started.

"Haddock." Hiccup answered.

"Chief Haddock. I am Freya, heiress to the Tribe of the Sirens. I am in desperate need of assistance. My tribe has been attacked and besieged for two months now. Will you help me?"

Hiccup gave the young woman, for surely she was not much older than 16, a tentative look. She was about 6 foot tall, long for a woman, but not unheard of. She had flowing golden hair that reached to halfway her back. Her eyes had a light-blueish tint, her skin soft and perfectly sculpted. Her breasts full, but not overly so. A slim yet fit body. She stood proud, considering the message she had delivered.

"Fair Freya," Hiccup answered her. "You and your crew shall rest in Berk for the remainder of the night. Tomorrow we will speak. Every speech has its time, and the dead of night certainly is not appropriate for the greeting of a guest. My friend Fishlegs here will show you the guesthouse. Sleep well."

"Thank you, Chief Haddock"

At that Freya and Fishlegs left the docks for the great hall. There a guesthouse was always prepared for unexpected visitors.

Hiccup doused the fire on his torch, leapt upon Toothless, and flew back home.

"I wonder where she comes from, bud. She really needs our help, it would seem."

As he came home, he got himself out of his clothes and laid himself warmly against Astrid. As he put an arm around her, she moaned and pulled his arm closely around her upper torso, making him hold her tightly around her breasts. She was still asleep, as far as he could discern. Her breasts were so soft and perfect. It really turned him on. But he was too tired now. Tomorrow he had to deal with these unknown guests.

As the first rays of sunlight peered through the window and around the door, Hiccup woke up. Astrid still lying peacefully in his arms. He certainly could get used to this. Astrid also woke up and the two of them immediately fell into a hard-felt kiss. Further than that they did not come however. Their kiss was rudely interrupted by a large black face pushing itself between them and licking the two of them.

"Toothless," Hiccup yelled, a bit embarrassed, and continued sternly. "We've got to make some rules for this, Toothless. But okay, okay, I'll go flying with you, you overgrown lizard."

Toothless withdrew his head and picked up some of Hiccup's clothing. At that same time, Stormfly too barged in with Astrid's armor.

"Alright, coming!" the two of them shouted.

Quickly they got dressed and jumped upon their dragons. Immediately Stormfly took off, and Hiccup gave Toothless the same signal not much later. He trailed Astrid along the island. They loved this. A quick patrol around Berk showed no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Bucket and Mulch were already out at sea fishing, but most of the Berkians were still in their homes. Everything seemed fine, except …"

"Hiccup, look!" Astrid pointed towards the docks.

"There is a strange ship docked."

"I know," Hiccup said. "It arrived early last night. It carried an envoy from some faraway land. I set them up in the guesthouse in the Great Hall."

"When did you do that?"

"Somewhere around 2 am I think. Fishlegs woke me up, and I decided to let you sleep. Not much to tell about them actually. We'll hear that in a few hours."

Hiccup and Astrid flew to the Great Hall to have their breakfast. When they were done eating, Hiccup found Fishlegs.

"Fishlegs,!"

"Hiccup!"

"I need you, Heather and Snotlout to return to the Vagabonds. I'll handle stuff around here."

"Uhm, about that, Hiccup," Fishlegs mumbled. "Snotlout is starting to be act a bit, uhm… weird."

"What do you mean, Fishlegs?"

"You know Heather and I have a thing going on. Well Snotlout is going after her, all the time. Seems to believe she loves him. It's really annoying. He even went to fight her for it."

Hiccup sighed.

"I'll talk to Snotlout, Fishlegs. Meanwhile, get ready to get to Thor's Wrath."

"Okay" Fishlegs said, and he walked back to his house.

Hiccup saw Snotlout immediately after, and talked to him sternly.

"I put you in charge, Snotlout! I can just as easily replace you. Stay away from Heather, is that understood? Don't you dare break my trust again!"

"Yes, chief," Snotlout stammered.

That was about it. Hiccup felt good. No way would Snotlout break his word.

After lunch, Fishlegs, Heather and Snotlout left Berk for Thor's Wrath, and Astrid and Hiccup went to the great hall, to meet their guests. As they flew towards the great hall, they noticed a little uproar from the stairs. Some of the crew were protecting something against a group of terrible terrors.

Hiccup quickly flew towards them.

"You there, stay away from the dragons, and get inside," Hiccup said.

The men quickly ran towards the hall and closed the door in fear.

"Come here, little guys," he said to the terrors, "now off with you!"

As Hiccup entered the great hall, several of Freya's crew crowded him.

"Are they gone?"

"Yes they are. They were just curious. They didn't know you. Now to business, can I speak to your mistress?"

The seamen quickly ran away, and shortly after Freya showed up. She was still a little flustered. Hiccup gestured to the meeting table. "Please," he said. Freya sat down.

"Last night was not the right time for talking, but I believe now is a good time. Now tell me, where are you from?"

Freya looked at Hiccup, then behind Hiccup, where Toothless and Stormfly chased each other's tails. Hiccup noticed her discomfort with the dragons being there.

"Milady, will you escort Toothless and Stormfly outside? Our guest is not used to them."

Astrid quickly led the two dragons outside. Once she returned she sat herself next to her husband.

"This is Astrid, my wife," Hiccup explained.

Freya, obviously relieved about the dragons no longer present, started.

"I am Freya, daughter of chieftess Ingrid of the tribe of the Sirens. We hail from an island very far from here, called Rhineland Isle. I am not a navigator, but I would guess about a week's sailing to the south of here. I was sent out to ask for help from other tribes."

"Yes," Hiccup said. "You mentioned something like that last night. Is your tribe under attack?"

"It is. It started two months ago. Suddenly, at dusk, dragons appeared. We marvelled at this, as we have no dragon sighting recorded for five generations. And without warning, the beasts attacked! They took out our defences first, before we knew what hit us. Now, every night they terrorize us. Taking food, burning houses, even killing people! A month ago I was sent to find allies against them."

"You say the dragons just attacked?" asked Hiccup. "There was no challenge, or hostility from your side?"

"None!" she yelled out. "We really need strength of arms. We have seen you deal with dragons differently from other tribes. Can you help us?"

"We will help you," said Hiccup. "Tonight, we can have readied three ships, fully manned, as well as seven battle-trained riders. I will come myself."

Freya was delighted. No way had she expected this outcome.

"Why, may I ask?"

Hiccup answered her sternly

"For two reasons, actually. Firstly, I would never refuse an honest call for help. Secondly you have seen how we deal with dragons. They are our allies. If what you say is true, the dragons attacking you are in danger. We strive for peace between Vikings and dragons."

I will order the mustering of arms immediately. Astrid, will you?"

"Sure."

Astrid stood up and left.

"If you wish to eat, or rest anymore, please, take what you need. If it is all the same to you, the ships will leave at dusk."

Within a few hours Astrid had arranged three ships, laden with weapons and fully manned. They were ready to depart at Hiccup's call. The dragons took a bit longer. Not many riders were left on the island now, but all who were capable readied themselves. There were of course Astrid and Hiccup themselves, and they used Astrid's team today. Gothi, Spitelout, Sven and Gustav were ready to depart quite quickly. Bucket and Mulch needed first needed to return from their fishing trip. About an hour before sunset, all were ready to depart. Tuffnut and Ruffnut for the time being kept an eye on Berk's defences while they were gone.

At sunset the great horn of Berk was sounded and the ships departed. Three Berkian ships, fully laden, trailing the Siren's warship. A few minutes later, the dragon riders departed, flying to the south. Freya had drawn a map, and given them directions. The riders would stay on land for the night, while the ships kept on sailing. At that rate, the two forces should arrive at Rhineland Isle around the same time. A week of travelling was next.


	7. Chapter 7: The New Councillor

Lars had managed the Vagabonds well during Snotlout's absence. Enough food was stored for the freeze, or any freak storms that could hit early. Also, the dragons had become far more docile, and people were starting to accept seeing them every day, without any lingering feelings of fear.

When Snotlout arrived at Thor's Wrath, the first thing that happened was the arrival of terror mail from Berk, saying that the army was assembled heading for Rhineland Isle to break a dragon siege. Hiccup explicitly ordered Snotlout to maintain the tribe well, and if nothing was heard in three weeks, to try and send help to the isle. A map was attached.

At the bottom, Hiccup had written:

" _And Snotlout, when I come back to Berk, I expect you and Heather to be on the same page._ "

Since the incident in the ring, Snotlout had managed to stay clear of Heather. He wanted her still, but the threat of an angry Hiccup was still something to be considered before making any move. He was officially the tribe's chieftain now, though he didn't feel like it. He missed the conversations he had with Harald – where was he anyway? – and he felt the villagers were far happier with Heather and Fishlegs, then with him. He needed to show them who was boss.

Since he came to this island, replacing Hiccup, he had been doing fairly well. He was a just chief, he settled conflict and did all sorts of altruistic stuff one would never have deemed Snotlout to be able to. Hiccup had made a good bet on this. Giving Snotlout true responsibility was the best gift he could give. And Snotlout did not want to disappoint him. But now something ached inside him. If he were to be their chief, he needed his people's loyalty.

Harald had become a close friend to Snotlout. They could easily talk, they exchanged ideas and he helped Snotlout with names and who to trust doing what. He knew these people and that made him become a big asset to Snotlout.

A few weeks after Snotlout returned from Hiccup's wedding Harald returned to Thor's Wrath. He had been visiting his uncle on a neighbouring island.

After he had returned, Snotlout kept Harald close. He always asked for his input whenever it concerned the village. More often than not, Harald's advice was to "show strength". And that was what Snotlout did.

One evening Harald told Snotlout he overheard some of the townsfolk saying Snotlout was too nice to be chief. That they needed Heather in charge. People reminding their neighbours "remember how she humiliated the chief in the ring?" and "we need a real chief".

Snotlout did not like what he heard. At first he let Harald deal with it.

"Tell the people I am their chief. They are not to mess around. Is that clear?"

But every so often Harald returned saying only he had heard more rumors.

Snotlout began to prescribe heavier penalties to disobedience and civil disorder. Upheaval in the town and little skirmishes that Vikings are so prone to were no longer penalized with a mere warning. Now, for a skirmish in the street, the ones involved got to do dirty jobs, such as rinsing litter and sewage pits and for the lucky ones, repairing damage throughout the town.

Snotlout was pretty pleased with himself. He no longer heard any complaints about him lacking authority. Harald had scoured the town for rumours, but nothing negative about the chief's new approach was heard. For a few days that is. Later he again heard some minor disgruntled remarks through Harald. This time about dragon training. People seemed to think Heather and Fishlegs were holding their students back for some reason. That they weren't telling all they knew.

Snotlout was afraid of this. He had successfully not made any contact with Heather since the "incident", and was glad of it. Now he had to not only speak to her, but straighten her out as well. As Snotlout got to the arena, he saw Heather from a distance and decided to see for himself how the Vagabonds were trained.

It seemed as though Heather was lecturing the students on something very bad. She seemed to be fuming and yelled at them all in a loud voice.

"Don't you ever do that again. None of you are ready for these sorts of tricks. Next time Meatlug may not be there to catch you. I know you saw Astrid demonstrate the free-fall-trick, but for you this is a free-fail-trick and a deadly one at that. All of you, get back home. I don't want to see any of your dragons in the air for a week. Am I clear?"

"Yes, miss Heather" the men shouted together.

"Now, get yourselves gone" Heather fumed.

O, how much he loved her when she was like this. He could spend hours upon hours looking at her when she was angry. It made her look so sexy, so seductive. Probably that was the last thing Heather wanted to communicate, but Snotlout could not help his thoughts.

The men put the dragons back in their pens inside the arena, then hastily ran away with a face red of embarrassment and annoyance. Snotlout now approached Heather in the ring. Heather saw him coming.

"Well if it isn't our glorious chief!" she sneered. "Come to learn anything today?"

O, how to start this about. He certainly didn't want to make her angrier than she already was.

"What did they do?" Snotlout said.

"You know that trust exercise Hiccup let us do last year?" Heather said.

"You mean the one where he said to jump to your death?" Snotlout replied.

"And to trust your dragon to catch you, yeah," said Heather.

"I still have nightmares about that one," Fishlegs threw in.

"Well, our dear Astrid showed that trick on Stormfly when we escorted the ships to Berk. Now, two of these idiots decided to try it out. Their dragons are not even used to being ridden!"

"And you just sent them off. Where is the discipline there? They have to feel it, don't they."

Heather's face grew tense. Her fists grabbed her axe tightly. With an icy voice she replied:

"Don't you dare tell me how to train my recruits, Snotlout!"

"Relax, Heather! I'm just saying, if you had taught them some real discipline, they wouldn't have jumped in the first place!"

Fishlegs jumped in between.

"Snotlout, shut it, please," he said. "Come on sweetie."

Fishlegs led Heather out of the ring.

"Well that could have gone better," Snotlout thought.

"Harald!" he yelled. "Get me the guys that just got sent home!"

Twenty minutes later Snotlout saw four downcast faces staring at his feet.

"You disobeyed Heather," Snotlout said. "That is unacceptable. All four of you will be detained for two nights. Get them into separate jail cells."

"On it, chief," said Harald.

"And Harald" said Snotlout

"Aye?"

"How is your training with the changewing coming along? Does he have a name yet?"

"Aye, chief. Shadowwing is fine, actually. I was wondering. Could you give me another flying lesson sometime?"

Snotlout replied in the affirmative. Harald took the four Vagabonds to the jails and locked them up.

An hour later both of them were in the air. Shadowwing and Hookfang flying side by side.

"Harald, I have a job for you," said Snotlout.

"I want you to train Shadowwing to follow Heather and Fishlegs wherever they go. I don't trust them. I want a daily report on what they do, who they talk to, and what they think. Make sure he isn't spotted. That would make for quite the complicated situation."

"Aye sir. Starting when?"

"Starting after dinner. Shadowwing can track them from there on easily."

Snotlout thought deeply.

"What should I do about them, Harald," he asked. "If my suspicions are correct and they are plotting against me, what do I do about it?"

Harald said: "I would never advise you to do anything against some of your own tribe, sir."

"Don't give me that," Snotlout said.

"Well sir," said Harald. "You are the chief here. If they are indeed plotting against you, you have to be decisive. Your response must be swift and effective. There can be no room for favouritism, just because they're dragon riders."

"You are right," Snotlout said. "I am the chief. They have to listen to me. I just can't have them sending terrors to Hiccup complaining. We need to keep an eye out for mail, and see what they are writing."

"Excellent, sir." said Harald, "I know someone who can help us in this. He's now riding a nadder. He could easily overtake a terror. Shall I have him report to you tonight?"

"Yes, do that. One thing more, what sort of punishment do you think is appropriate for undermining my authority?"

"That's not really my place to say sir, but if you insist I'd say you've tried talking. They'll need to feel it. Anyone who disrespects your authority should see and feel your authority harshly. It's the only way it will sink in."

The next few days surveillance on Fishlegs and Heather was secretly begun. Their terror mail was intercepted, and at time altered to a message that made the reader think things were good between Heather and Snotlout. No one would expect that things were off.

If they crossed him, he would know what to do.


	8. Chapter 8: Draconic Measures

Author's Note: Next few chapters are really M-rated, for different reasons. This one being the first, containing some rather explicit sexual activities.

" _Dagur,_

 _I am currently on my way to help the Siren's tribe on their home island of Rhineland Isle. For details see accompanied map. With me I have most of the Dragon Riders Auxiliary and half Berk's army. We had news that Rhineland Isle has been under siege from dragons for nigh a month._

 _Could you spare some men from the Berserker armada to check every now and again on the safety of Berk's waters. I have left Ruffnut and Tuffnut in charge of the security of the island, but it would be a great relief to know if you checked up on them regularly. I will try to keep in contact with you, but the tribe we're heading for is a three day flight from Berserker Island. Should you not hear anything from us for more than a month, you are to assume control of Berk's forces, and call upon Snotlout and your sister on Thor's Wrath to send reinforcements._

 _As a second favour I ask you to gather news concerning any change in my father's well-being._

 _We will return as swiftly as we can._

 _Your Brother, Hiccup."_

Having finished his letter, Hiccup rolled it up tightly and attached it to the terrible terror next to him.

"Go, Sharpshot."

And off he was.

Hiccup stood up. He was in a quickly assembled camping ground. It was the fifth day out from Berk and Hiccup was on watch. Travel was going quicker than expected. Tomorrow he and Astrid would fly ahead to Rhineland Isle to assess the situation.

"Jollyquick, get over here" Hiccup said to another terrible terror nearby.

"I also have a letter for you. Get it to Snotlout safely please…"

He read it once more:

" _Snotlout,_

 _Good to hear you and Heather are on the same page again. I am proud of how you handled the situation. Apologizing to her was indeed chief-worthy. I hope Fishlegs and Heather are doing fine training the new recruits. We may need them if things down south take a turn for the worse._

 _Once more you have proven my trust in you and I could not be prouder to call you my friend._

 _See you in a few weeks!_

 _Hiccup"_

Yes, that was about right. He rolled it up, and attached the scroll to Jollyquick.

After he sent him off, he turned to the campfire. It was slowly burning lower, so he threw on another log of wood. It was now about midnight. Time for his shift to end. Hiccup walked quietly towards Astrid's bedroll, and shook her gently. Astrid groaned. He shook her again. Now she woke up. She looked up and saw Hiccup's face dimly lit by the firelight.

"Morning, milady!" Hiccup said, a little too enthusiastically.

"Still think it's rather night-time, Hiccup," Astrid responded. "You must be losing your touch," she added with a seductive smile.

"You think so, milady?" said Hiccup, as he approached her more closely. "I can assure you I haven't lost anything."

"Except your leg, that is," she teased

"Right, the leg thing. How original."

Astrid now got out of her bedroll and started caressing Hiccup's arms.

"Why don't you show me?"

"Really, Astrid," Hiccup said. "You want to do it now?"

"Unless you indeed have lost your touch…"

"O you're going to get it." Hiccup said, and he pressed his lips on hers. His hands wandered freely over her body, starting at her hair, which hung loose. Those soft blonde strands always were a good starter. His hands wandered further loosening her armor, taking it off and revealing her upper garments. A soft woollen tunic of coloured red and light blue. It already showed some wear and tear, Hiccup knew, but that wasn't visible in this light. The tunic came off shortly after.

Hiccup admired her in her beauty. He left her mouth for what it was just to look at her amazing body in the small dancing of the firelight nearby. Her breasts were subtle and shaped to perfection. Her nipples already were hard, and when he touched them, only just, Astrid let out a heavy moan. She could not resist him like this. Hiccup had no intention of stopping, and decided to give her nipples some more attention. He used his licks sparingly, and just after his tongue touched, he would withdraw, making Astrid mad with desire. She curved her back backwards pushing her breasts into Hiccup's face. Greedily Hiccup buried his head between the two amazingly seductive hills.

Slowly one of his hands moved further down, until it reached the collar of her trousers. He quickly pushed his hand under the collar and felt around with spread fingers. A warm moist feeling greeted his fingers as they reached the right spot. As soon as Hiccup touched her most sacred region, Astrid let out a loud moan, almost scream-like in the deafening silence around them. Gustav mumbled in his sleep in response, but no one seemed to wake up.

A finger of Hiccup's moved inside her, which only increased her joy. She pulled his head out of the cleavage between her breasts and made him kiss her once more, deeply. As her tongue moved over his it was Hiccup who decided the rhythm by pushing in and out of her vagina. At times he'd touch the clit, making Astrid's tongue movements halt completely and caused her to moan out loud.

Hiccup slowly withdrew from her lips, both top and bottom, and Astrid let out a disappointing grunt. Hiccup moved down, and now slid off Astrid's boots, followed by her trousers. As she lay naked in front of him, she grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. His boot, and the remainder of his clothes followed not much later. Now Hiccup and Astrid sat in front of each other. Her pussy dripping wet, his dick stiff and erect. Hiccup came closer to Astrid, moving onto her, but Astrid stopped him with the touch of a finger.

"Not so quick, chief," she said seductively. She lowered her left hand to her pussy. She pushed in a finger and began fingering herself. With her right hand she forced Hiccup to lay on his back. Her right hand slowly lowered itself, touching his skin only with one nail, until she reached his penis. She grabbed it tightly, exerting a moan from Hiccup. She started stroking him further over the entire length of his dick. Hiccup laid back and enjoyed it.

After a minute or so, Hiccup felt something else touching his dick, as it started to suck on it, and stroke it and lick it at the same time. Hiccup felt as if he were in Valhalla. Astrid moved her mouth up and down his shaft whilst continuing to stroke him off. Inside she used her tongue to further tease him. Astrid loved the reaction she got when she did this. She would make Hiccup feel how much she loved him.

About ten minutes passed with Hiccup laying back, almost incapacitated with the joy Astrid brought him. Astrid felt Hiccup's breathing grow heavier, turn into a panting of sorts, when she stopped.

"No way, Hiccup," she said. "You're not done yet."

Now she laid back herself, and spread her legs. Hiccup moved his head closer to her pussy that had if possible only gotten wetter.

"No," she said sternly. "No more teasing, Hiccup. No more of this nice-guy. I want to feel you inside me.

Hiccup remained near her belly button. "In time, milady…" was all he said.

"Hiccup! Fuck m… mmmhh" she uttered.

Hiccup had thrust his face into her most private region. His tongue started wandering. He continued to stimulate her, teasing her more and more by only barely touching her, and if he did, he would only touch her clit, and only for a fraction of a second. Astrid could no longer contain herself. Her protestations failed and turned to moans of pleasure. After a couple of minutes Hiccup moved his tongue quicker and more erratically. Astrid's voice failed her as she fell into a rush of orgasm, gripping Hiccup's head and pushing it into her in reflex. She got off so well, she almost drowned Hiccup in her juices. After half a minute she slackened her hold on his hair, and Hiccup appeared with an extremely wet face, but with a face looking devious.

Just as Astrid had recovered from her orgasm, Hiccup entered her. She was so wet and ready for him, he almost fit in to the bottom, and he kept his member lodged inside for a few seconds for her to get used to it. Then he slowly withdrew, and thrust back in. Hiccup and Astrid kept going for a good 10 minutes or so, until Hiccup started panting again. Astrid knew what was about to come. She pushed Hiccup away, and got her mouth around his cock as swiftly as she could, stroking his shaft as she did so. Within a few strokes Hiccup came hard. He tried to temper his voice, but to no avail. Astrid gulped up all of the sperm greedily. She loved the taste of it.

The two of them laid in each other's arms for a few minutes, until Hiccup fell asleep. Astrid got dressed and took the remainder of the watch.

The next day Hiccup seemed to be in high spirits. He, Astrid and Gustav would fly ahead to Rhineland Isle, while Spitelout and the rest were to wait for the ships. Toothless, Stormfly and Fanghook took off simultaneously and swerved off to the south-west.

"I see it," Gustav shouted, just before he added, "I think."

"Yes, Gustav," said Hiccup, "that resembles what Freya told me the island looked like."

The three of them swerved high over the island, beyond bowshot. The last thing they needed was being shot down by the people they tried to save.

The village was not doing well. Many darkened spots on the ground and partially ruined houses showed abundant fire damage. The main hall was still intact, but many of the watchtowers had been destroyed. Surprisingly, the docks were mostly intact, but since the island had a natural bay and sloping beach that did not matter much. After an hour of swirling overhead, the three of them returned to the last island. There the fleet had only just arrived. A war council was convened shortly after.

"The village," Hiccup reported, "is mostly in ruins. From what I could see from the air, many houses are either destroyed of severely burnt. The stone houses still stand, and so do the docks, so we can easily get on the island. As for getting safely _to_ the island, that's another matter entirely. We did not see any dragons on our patrol, but we have seen dragon raids before, and they usually just happen at night, for added protection."

"That's right," said Freya, "When the dragons first attacked, they only did so during the night. By dawn they were gone."

"Then I say we leave directly after this council is done. It is about three hours travel by boat from here."

"But," said Freya, "then we will arrive at dusk. That's when the dragons come!"

"Exactly," said Astrid, "the dragons will have only just begun their attack, which ensures we are not spotted until the last moment, and they will be surprised, and scatter."

"Right." said Freya. "Do you think it will work?"

"Yes," said Hiccup. "Once they are distracted, Astrid, the auxiliary and I will scare away the dragons. Then we can get you home safely, and discuss how to deal with them. We need more information on these attacks than we now have."

"Any objections?" Hiccup asked. "Good. Now mount up and set sail! Dragon Riders, stay with the ships, and stay low. Gustav, make Fanghook blast the water once we are in sight of the island. We approach the island from the west, against the setting sun. Make sure we are invisible. Good luck, everyone!"

"Aye chief!" everybody said.

After an hour of sailing Gustav spotted land and ordered Fanghook to blast the water. It worked marvellously well. The four ships remained in sight of each other, but none from outside could see them coming. Against the setting sun in the mist they were absolutely invisible.

When the sun set behind the western horizon, it quickly cooled and darkened. Fanghook stopped blasting and the sky cleared a little. After ten minutes they heard the first screech of a deadly nadder, followed by the growls of monstrous nightmares. Hiccup and his fleet sailed into the bay unnoticed, and started mooring. Nobody was at the docks. When Hiccup was confident most of the men had disembarked, he let Toothless fire a single shot up.

The purple plasma broke in the high airs and caused an avalanche of sparks, enough to see by. That was the sign the dragon riders waited for. Hiccup, Astrid, Gothi and Sven lift off swerved to the right and flew across the island in a straight formation. Gustav led Bucket, Mulch and Spitelout in much the same fashion, but turning left. The two teams started blasting at the dragons as they came out to attack the village. A wall of fire was created by Bucket accidentally forgetting to tell his had to light the gas. That finally did it. The dragons were disoriented and confused, after being attacked by their own kind. They fled the island. The dragon riders landed, as the villagers started cheering towards them.

He quickly told all his forces to stand down and he quickly flew after Freya. After landing next to her, he got off and asked her to bring him to the chieftess of the Sirens.

Freya, too impressed by the dragons' quick withdrawal to say anything, just nodded and led him to the main hall.

He was showed in, and greeted with cheering, and a hearty handshake from half the villagers.

Presently a woman approached him. A woman obviously family to Freya, her hair a little more aged, and knotted behind her crown. Her bust was more than significant, but her grace was subtle and she was in general fair and majestic to behold.

She said: "We are greatly in your debt. I see my daughter has found aid in a faraway land."

"We were just helping out where we can," said Hiccup. "I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk, the Vagabonds Tribe of Thor's Wrath and captain of the Dragon Riders. After your daughter urged us to come and help you, I and my dragon riders, as well as three ships of arms have come to help you. Am I right in guessing you are the chieftess of this tribe?"

"You are, young chief," said the woman. "I am Ingrid, daughter of Idun, chieftess of the Rhineland Isle Sirens. You are most welcome. Are you in need of food or rest or company? We'd be happy to provide."

"As for the food and drink, I graciously accept." said Hiccup. "As for the company, I already have more than sufficient." he gestured to Astrid behind him with a laugh on his face.


	9. Chapter 9: The Last Straw

**Author's Note: I'll be attending a conference in Southampton next week, so I won't be posting as often as I have this week. It's really great you guys like this story so much!**

 **Warning: This chapter and the next one are probably one of the darkest to come. Main reason it's M-rated.**

Snotlout was proud of himself after reading Hiccup's letter. It worked! Hiccup actually called him his friend. There was just one small problem. He might not have been completely truthful. Somethings he said he did, Snotlout may not have done at all. He still planned to apologize to Heather, but somehow he never got to say it.

Meanwhile Snotlout's rule was established. Nobody dared defy him, for they knew the consequences, and most of the village did not want to spend the night in Snotlout's jail. Though Snotlout did try to make up his behaviour towards Heather, he failed miserably. Heather had been furious when she found out Snotlout had jailed her recruits after the free-fall incident. It was her responsibility, and he better stay away from it.

She did understand his reasons, though. He had fallen in love with her. All she could really do was make absolutely clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She found him repulsive, arrogant and, truth be told, terrifying at times. She often sought refuge with Fishlegs when he did something to anger her (again). Then they would make love and she would feel better. But it bothered her. She sent a few letters to Dagur, asking for advice, but her brother was never good at this sort of stuff. His advises ranging from "throw him off the island" to "come home with me and live on Berserker Island". At last she sent a terror mail to Astrid. Knowing it would take almost a week before she would be able to get a reply.

" _Hi Astrid,_

 _Heather here. I'll be keeping it short. Fishlegs and I have troubles with Snotlout. Since Hiccup sent the three of us to Thor's Wrath he has been nothing short of annoying. The guy is in love with me. I tried to tell him I belonged to Fishlegs, even moaned a bit louder when Snotlout started peeking when I and Fishlegs were going at it._

 _I need some advice. I think Snotlout is trying to cope with it, but every time he tries to talk to me something goes wrong._

 _Good luck down south._

 _H."_

The following week was hard. Not many punishments were dealt that were more severe than a night in the brig, but Heather found it best to avoid Snotlout as much as she could. She really felt bad for Snotlout, but was convinced it was for the best. Every time she saw him, or talked to him something set him off – or her – causing him to deal out rash judgement to the villagers.

A week had passed since sending her letter when she got a reply.

" _Hi girl,_

 _I know you sent this to me only, but I have let Hiccup read it as well. I will explain._

 _Up till now we have had frequent terror mail contact with Snotlout. He stated everything was fine, saying he even apologized to you about his behaviour. We were actually pretty sure he was on the right track. Believe me, Hiccup will deal with him when we get back to Berk._

 _If I guess right you have been staying away from Snotlout these weeks, and I think that is a good course of action._

 _However, if he bothers you this much, confront him again. You are in charge of the Vagabond's Flight Academy. He is not. You are Fishleg's girl, not Snotlout's. If he trespasses into either of those terrains you must show him who the real boss is on your island._

 _And about your moaning trick. Great! Well done! I really had to laugh about that one. You showed him, girl!_

 _I do not think we will be gone from here any time soon. The dragons have us surrounded for days now. We fight them off, and they just come back in greater numbers._

 _If Snotlout is any trouble, think with your axe!_

 _Bye,_

 _A."_

Heather was furious. Snotlout acted as if nothing was wrong? He had apologized? No way was he getting out of this one.

Heather sprinted across the village into the meeting hall. She thrust open the door, and yelled at the top of her voice:

"Snotlout! Get over here, now!"

That last word was such a terrifyingly loud scream. Everybody in the hall fell silent immediately and either flinched of backed away from her. Snotlout himself not even dared speak up at first.

"Snotlout! Pick up your axe!" Heather screamed.

Everybody in the hall now knew that Snotlout was in real trouble now. Heather took had already clenched her double axe in her fists, so tightly that her knuckles started showing white. Snotlout slowly stood up, still terrified and approached Heather quietly.

"Heather," he pleaded in a hushing voice, "calm down!"

"I will not calm down, Snotlout," she screamed. Fishlegs now stumbled up behind her.

"What's going on, sweetie?" Fishlegs said.

Heather ignored him.

"Snotlout! How dare you lie to Hiccup about us. There is no us, and there will never be an 'us'. I had hoped I made that clear. And how dare you tell him you, ahum, apologized." Her scream became hoarse as she spoke. "I'll give you one chance to do exactly that. If not, you will truly find out how sharp my blade is."

Snotlout now stood firm, thinking, "By Thor, one of the letters got through."

He spoke in a stern voice.

"All of you, leave us!"

The crowds were still hesitant about this, as a wrathful Heather still occupied the doorway.

"Leave us, now!" Snotlout threateningly ordered.

All of them now started up and left in a hurry. Harald hid himself behind a pillar on the side. Fishlegs closed the gate behind him. He wanted no part of this. Heather could handle herself.

As soon as they were alone, Snotlout said:

"Heath…"

"Think carefully about what you're going to say, Snotlout! One chance only."

"You can't address me like this, Heather! I understand you have mixed feelings about me, but that can't come between …"

He could not finish his sentence, as a livid Heather sprinted towards him with axe raised. He quickly rolled aside to dodge her blow, and picked up his own axe.

"Heather, snap out of it! Listen to me!" he said.

But there was no stopping Heather. She was wroth. She gave him one chance to apologize, and he used it to belittle her about his position as chief. She darted towards Snotlout and again she struck with her axe. Snotlout was only saved from this devastating blow by losing his footing and tumbling over. Snotlout got up again and lifted his axe to make a blow of his own, but he did not see the second part of her blade coming crashing down on his helmet. Snotlout watched as his helmet fell off his head, with a sever bump in it. He barely felt the pain, but he did know now there was no reasoning with this madwoman.

He swung his axe towards her, causing her to back away. Heather stepped back with one foot, using the momentum to strike another blow at Snotlout. This time Snotlout did see it coming and he parried the attack. Somehow Snotlout kept winning territory until Heather was locked against the wall. She struck once more with her axe, only to have the blow repelled by Snotlout. He grabbed the hold of her axe and yanked it away from her, causing her to half-collapse. Snotlout pushed his own axe against her throat, and panted:

"Don't you dare do anything like that again, Heather."

 **Author's note: Rape Warning! Skip to bold letters if you don't want to read it.**

He now looked at her. She was standing locked between his axe and the wall, a mere foot from him. Her face was still livid, but a twitch of fear appeared on her face when she saw her predicament. Snotlout could looked at her more intensely now, and could not help but feel attracted to her. He had become hard at the idea of her being at his mercy. He could no longer contain himself. Whilst his left hand still left the axe in place, his right grabbed Heather's left breast and started grasping it tightly.

Heather was deathly scared. She did not flinch at the pain from her breast, but she was afraid of what might come.

She started pleading, "Please stop Snotlout! Please!"

But Snotlout did not even hear her. He grabbed her with two hands and pushed her to the ground, tearing off her tunic. He grabbed her beautiful breasts and tighted his hold on her as she attempted to slap him.

Heather yelled, she flung around with her arms and legs, she screamed for help, but no response came. Snotlout forced his mouth on hers and started kissing her. She bit him.

"Harald, get over here!" he ordered. "Get her down!"

"Yes chief," he said. Harald quickly grabbed Heather and yanked her to the floor. Snotlout hit her in the face for biting him.

She almost blacked out at that.

Snotlout pulled off her skirt and underwear. Then he took off his own boots and trousers. With a glorious phallus he stood himself high above Heather from her position. Harald left the two, and started walked towards the doors, but didn't leave.

Snotlout leaned with his arms on hers, just under the armpit so she couldn't move. He brought his erection towards her pussy, and thrust it in in one go. It hurt Heather tremendously. She had never gotten wet from Snotlout, and now his intrusion was like sandpaper on a sponge. Snotlout got in and out of her. She was completely in his power, and he would make her feel it. She trembled on the ground, tears forming in her eyes, and every time he pushed into her was like a lifetime torture. She yelled, she screamed for Fishlegs, but Fishlegs was beyond helping.

Snotlout felt in charge. He had never felt this much in control, and he relished in it. He got in and out of Heather until he could no longer hold himself together, and came hard inside her.

"I love you so much," he said. "If only loved me to."

 **End of rape scene** "

Heather was left naked, with a significant amount of semen leaking out of her vagina. As soon as Snotlout left her she curled up and cried out loud. She cried for Fishlegs, and she vowed revenge.

Snotlout got dressed and left the hall. There he was met with a curious sight. Lars had Fishlegs in chains.

"Good," said Snotlout. "Heather is still inside the hall. Get her and Fishlegs to the brig, separate cells."

"Aye, chief!" said Lars

"O and do me a favour! Leave them as there as they are. No need to tidy them up."

"Harald!"

"Yes chief?"

"Get Shadowwing to guard them, as an added precaution."

As soon as this was arranged, Snotlout wrote a letter to Hiccup.

" _Hi Hiccup,_

 _I have had some minor issues with Heather. I know I told you I had apologized but in fact I hadn't. I did say sorry for my behaviour two days ago, but she did not take it well at first._

 _It is especially hard for me to work with her, as she is extremely stubborn._

 _I am sorry for deceiving you at first. Hope this restores the trust._

 _Good luck down south! If you need any help, just send the word!_

 _Snotlout"_


	10. Chapter 10: An Evil Respite

**Author's note:**

 **So I learnt a lesson today. Someone close to you telling you it is a very good idea to break from your storyline is not to be trusted on April Fool's. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about April Fool's Day as well… I'm hopeless. Second lesson: never forget that either. Good. Now. New chapter, as it was supposed to be. Enjoy!**

Astrid's letter was not far off. Every night since they arrived the dragons had attacked Rhineland Isle. Though at first scared away, the dragons came back the next night in greater numbers. Strange dragons they saw raiding as well. Not just nadders, gronckles and monstrous nightmares, but strangely shaped and rare dragons joined in as well. Gustav swore he saw a timberjack. Three separate snaptrappers were sighted at the island in one night. These were not the dragons you'd expect in a raid. These were reclusive dragons, which usually don't involve themselves with humans at all. It was a mystery nobody had an answer to. Though vaguely some Berkians remembered the red death on Dragon Island and speculated a similar dragon could be behind this assault. However, that did not explain the sudden onslaught. After all on Rhineland Isle, nobody, as far as anyone could remember, had even seen a dragon.

Just after sunset the dragons would come. They always came from the east, where it was darkest. A mass of about fifty dragons swerved down onto the island, blasting fire as they came. They did not seem to mind about the food, they just went after the island itself. Houses were set aflame. Storages were burnt to the ground. On the second night since Hiccup's arrival the docks ceased to be. The great meeting hall in the centre of town was their main target.

When Hiccup had just arrived, the town was on the verge of collapse, no longer able to sustain itself. Now he had maintained a fire brigade, armed to the teeth with buckets of water. Upon rebuilding, it was always preferred to use metal instead of wood. So, a week after Hiccup had come, the town still suffered from the daily raids, but managed.

Hiccup had found no way to stop the raids, so he decided to fly after the dragons when they retreated in the morning. With him Astrid went. Stormfly and Toothless waited in the dark until twilight. Then a tremor-like sound came from the south. It slowly grew in strength until it was a mighty roar, then died out again. It sounded like a dragon roar, but none Hiccup or Astrid recognized. Stormfly, however, did. The moment she heard the sound she leapt up, disregarding Astrid's well-being and flew off.

Hiccup yelled in fear, and Toothless took off, flying after them. They weren't the only ones either. All of the dragons left the island and flew off south as quickly as possible. Hiccup kept as close to Toothless as possible, hoping the other dragons would not notice him. That did not seem to be a problem. It was like all the dragons were in some sort of trance; that was what affected Stormfly.

Astrid was clueless. Stormfly had never just gone off like this. The last and only time something like this happened was when she accidentally found some dragon root. But this was not feral behaviour. Stormfly simply flew off, not even realizing Astrid was on top of her. Astrid tried everything to regain Stormfly's attention, but nothing happened. Well, they still flew on, and Astrid was quite aware of all the dragons flying around them. Eventually she saw Toothless flying near her and she waved for Hiccup's help.

"Astrid," Hiccup shouted. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," she yelled back, across the winds, "Stormfly seems to be in some sort of trance. She no longer listens."

"Have you tried scratching her chin? She can't resist that surely?"

Immediately Astrid swung over in a dangerous position so she could scratch Stormfly under her chin. The effect was as simultaneous as the take-off was a minute ago. Stormfly was paralyzed and litteraly fell from the sky. Astrid, being in the position where she was, fell off and dropped towards the ground in a free fall. Astrid yelled towards Stormfly.

"Stormfly! Catch!" came from both Hiccup's and Astrid's throats. Stormfly shook up from her paralysis, and flew down to get her friend. She swerved down and let Astrid land on her back.

"Thanks girl," Astrid said, as she patted her dragons back, then felt her own. "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Astrid looked down and saw the ocean, believing she'd be able to touch it if she stretched out her arms. Hiccup and Toothless met them and together they flew after the rest of the dragons, who continued there course, not even halting for a second.

"You alright, milady?"

"I am now. You know, she's never done this before. It like something controlled her mind of something."

"That was right after the retreat signal," said Hiccup. "That roar was probably what did this to Stormfly. We should be careful. There is probably an queen ordering these dragons around, just like the red death!"

"But why didn't it affect Toothless?"

"No idea," he said. "Maybe he's immune? We don't know a lot about night furies after all."

"Well, what are we going to do when we find the nest?" said Astrid.

"I don't know yet. We should take a peek, see what the situation is and then head home."

"Right!" Astrid gestured straight ahead. "I guess that's what we do now, then."

They approached an island of solid rock. Not a strand of grass could be seen. The angles and pinnacles of stone had an unwholesome look to it and stood out ominously. Hiccup and Astrid decided to start looking around from high up, way beyond bowshot, and preferably in the face of the sun, whenever that was possible.

The island was not that big actually. It consisted of one rocky pinnacle, rising steeply from the seabed, then rising slower eventually leading to a steep peak. As they flew closer and closer they noticed it was not made of rock at all. It was made of ice. The ice was old, and greyish-looking, but still discernible as ice. The great pinnacles at the side were spine-like stalactites rising up from the centre.

All the dragons had gone inside of the island through passages unseen by Hiccup and Astrid. They did however see some things that were bad. Very bad. On the west side of the island was a small patch of brown. It was formed like walking planks for docks, and indeed beside it rose great ships. Just about two of them, no more. They carried no insignia, and nobody seemed to be aboard. Hiccup and Astrid flew down towards one on the ships and started to search it. Nothing could be found on deck. Hiccup the decided to take a quick look in the holds. He swiftly found the captain's hut and checked the log.

His fortune stopped there. The log was bright new. Just about two pages had been scribbled down. Most was about the ship's crew in general. Two entries seemed truly interesting.

" _Day 9_

 _We finally got our orders. Took him long enough. Though I can't say I was pleased to read them. Whatever goes on inside D.B.'s head is a mystery. Always will be probably. We barely see him nowadays anyway. Nobody knows where he is. He appears to communicate through dragon mail. Such an abomination, but a useful one I can see. So for the coming weeks we are to babysit a bunch of dragons, and get their alpha riled up, so he sends a host off north. Every day at 4. Apparently we are to relieve another crew of this task. What is this nonsense? But then again we only hear what we must. Nobody knows his mind. We are all pieces, and only a few are lucky enough – or not so – to see the full board._ "

" _Day 11_

 _Bad news. Our dragons came back early. We sent some scouts and found out that the Sirens now have assistance from Berk. D.B. told us we could expect them. They even have dragon riders! I don't care what D.B. says, no way I can fight two armies. I have ordered the men to make the alpha even angrier than usual, make him send more dragons but that's all I can._ "

" _Day 14_

 _I'm never going to understand this guy. First he wants us to destroy one tribe. Next thing he tells us to leave them in peace and go after another. We barely see him nowadays. Nobody knows where he is. He appears to communicate through dragon mail. Such an abomination, but a useful one I can see. So our orders are to stand down. Not to enrage the alpha and leave the Sirens be for the time being. Strange. He even sent us some explanation! Well, explanation… 'Captain, stand down, time for a respite. Everyone deserves one when losing a valuable asset. Even if they don't know it yet'. What sort of explanation is that? I wish I knew what this is all about._ "

Hiccup looked up from the book, then quickly got back up on the deck and jumped upon Toothless.

"Astrid, come!" he shouted. "We must get back at once!"

Hearing him, some soldiers, strangely dressed, walked out of the ice mountain, and sounded the alarm. Toothless and Stormfly quickly flew away.

"What is it, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him.

"Something is wrong. We need to get to Rhineland Isle as quickly as possible. "I read the captain's log, Astrid. The raids have stopped."

"Tha… that's great," Astrid said, very confused. "Hiccup? Why does that upset you?"

"Apparently someone called D.B. is behind all this. The log said they were under orders to stop the raids on the Sirens, because he thinks his adversaries deserve a respite. Astrid, something terrible has happened! I just know it. He knew about us helping, he even knew when we were coming!"

The two of them flew towards the island as fast as they could. An hour later they landed on the stairs in front of the meeting hall. There Hiccup was greeted with a troubled face. Spitelout ran up to him.

"Chief!" he yelled, tears beginning in his eyes. He tried to stand proud but he could not hide his grief. This was bad. If a Jorgenson showed tears…

"Chief. News about your father!"

Hiccup jumped off Toothless and literally grabbed the piece of paper from Spitelout's hand.

It was short, but the point.

" _Dear Brother,_

 _I am sorry to have to bring you this news. Your father, Stoick the Vast is dead. He died peacefully in the night, when I was on Berk to check on him._

 _Unfortunately we have had no news of Gobber or Trader Johann. Not a word or rumour._

 _I'll be waiting for you on Berk._

 _Dagur_ "

Hiccup passed the letter on to Astrid. She read the letter twice, then tears formed in her eyes and she let herself fall into Hiccup's arms. Not a word was said.

An hour later two ships departed towards Berk. Hiccup and the dragon riders flew ahead. A terror mail was sent to Snotlout informing him, and asking him, Heather and Fishlegs and any Vagabond who wanted to to attend Stoick's funeral. Chieftess Ingrid and her daughter Freya went along with the ships as well, as Berk was now their ally. Still a significant force was kept on Rhineland Isle to defend it should the dragon raids go on.


	11. Chapter 11: Passing the Crossroads

Right after Snotlout sent the letter to Hiccup, he consulted with Lars and Harald. Snotlout was a little taken aback at his own actions. He would never admit it, but to him it seemed that a fist of broken glass was tearing at his insides. On the other hand, he had to do what was best for the tribe. The best thing this could use now was good leadership. A chief who held his own and kept everyone in check. He could not name favourites amongst his subjects, neither could he let an assault on his life pass without consequences. Harald was adamant he had done well, showing the girl her rightful place, at Snotlout's mercy. Lars still had his doubts about Snotlout raping Heather, but didn't push the matter. He had locked up Fishlegs because he tried to enter when Heather started screaming. That was against orders, but even Lars, seasoned warrior that he was felt sick hearing Snotlout taking her against her will. Not even under Ryker Grimborn had he experienced this sort of behaviour.

Snotlout wanted to let Fishlegs go, but Harald warned him of the consequences.

"If you let Fishlegs out, he will try to rebel, he will try to overthrow you. Though right you were in doing what you did, he will never forgive it."

So Fishlegs was kept in jail as well.

Also, he thought about giving Heather back her clothes.

"Chief, that would be a sign of weakness. This is the punishment you gave her. You can't just turn that back because you feel bad. A chief needs to be reliable and cannot be seen indecisive."

Harald's opinion was weighed heavily in Snotlout's mind. Eventually he agreed. This was part of her punishment. He did make sure the dragons kept the furnaces going enough to keep it mildly warm. Last thing he needed was Heather freezing to death.

Fishlegs had always a peaceful guy. Even before the peace with the dragons, he was a gentle spirit, always afraid to upset anyone. It is what Heather eventually fell in love with. He had never liked Snotlout – that arrogant Jorgenson – but he tried to live with it, and stay away from conflict. The latest turn of events however had changed that. Fishlegs was consumed by hatred. He and Heather were set in separate cells, but both of them were unable to speak, as their mouths were gagged. Every waking moment Fishlegs was confronted with the injustice and ruthless actions committed by Snotlout. Heather lay naked in her cell, barely ate, and moaned, cried and shuddered in her sleep. She needed him, but even that Snotlout had denied them. When they were put in jail, Fishlegs had seen the white fluids dripping out of her, and her molestation made him snap. He could not forgive this. He would never forget it. He would make Snotlout pay. Fishlegs became more and more consumed by hatred and revenge.

A few days after they were put in, Fishlegs was brought before Snotlout. The guards threw him at their chief's feet.

The voice above him began: "Fishlegs Ingerman. I will release you from jail, if…"

Snotlout started walking around him now.

"… if you apologize to me here and now on your knees that you will never disobey me again. Is that clear?"

Fishlegs stood up defiantly. He looked Snotlout straight in the face and said "Never." Then suddenly he hit Snotlout in the face. He used him as a punching bag. He would pay. After a few seconds he was restrained once again by the guards. Snotlout had a bloody face, a broken nose and a black eye. His jaw hurt.

Snotlout did not understand. He gave him the chance to go free, against Harald's advice. Now he saw Harald was right. Fishlegs would never forgive him.

Now, however he had a new problem. Fishlegs had openly assaulted him. He had injured the chief. According to his own laws that meant a severe punishment. People expected nothing less of him.

"Get him back to his cell," he ordered.

"Harald," he said. "Make him pay for this, but let him live."

Harald left. Snotlout was really saddened. He wanted to be on good terms with Heather and Fishlegs, and now he had just ordered Fishlegs' torture. This was not good. This was not as it was supposed to be. Why did they not just listen to him? He was their chief, wasn't he. How could it be that Hiccup was so loved by everybody, but that he could not even keep his friends? Snotlout started drinking the mead heavily that evening. A few hours later he was passed out on the ground. Some guards brought him to his bed, where he slept deep into the following day.

Sleep certainly was not on the agenda for Fishlegs. Harald had planned to find the most excruciating pain he could exert from Fishlegs, and make him suffer. He had been ordered to keep Fishlegs alive, and that he would do.

When Fishlegs was returned to his cell, he was stripped and restrained. Harald stood before him with a grin on his face. He took up a whip and let it slide through his fingers. It appeared so soft in irony. Fishlegs was bound and shackled against the bars of his cell. From there he saw Heather staring at him. That gave him courage. Harald lashed out. A red line formed on Fishlegs' back, around the lower shoulder blade region. Harald whipped him again. This time lower. The tip of the whip reddened his backside. And Harald continued. After twenty lashes Fishlegs lost count. Harald did not even care to count. Open wounds started to appear on his back and buttocks. His left thigh was rent with a low blow. His entire back was red with blood. All that time Fishlegs faced Heather. She could not look away, because she knew it gave him the strength to hold on. Her face said something like "Fishlegs, hold on. Be strong!" and that was all the encouragement he needed.

Harald noticed this. He looked at the naked beauty in the other cell, and smiled. He was going to have his way with her sometime soon. He took hold of Fishlegs' left arm and pulled it through the bars, than crashing it to the side, breaking it instantly. Fishlegs screamed out in pain. He did the same to his other arm. Heather shook in terror at the display in front of her. Harald released the arms and Fishlegs crumbled to the ground, twisting in pain. And each twist and movement added to the pain. He looked at Heather again, and then saw a most despicable sight.

Harald had decided to fight in two ways. Physical pain got far, but not far enough, as a torture method. Whenever possible he would assail the sane mind of his victim. Harald had removed the gag from Heather's mouth and lowered his trousers. He pushed his soft dick inside her mouth, forcing her to suck it. Heather did not dare refuse. He slowly got harder as he watched Fishlegs twist and turn more and more, trying to get to him. But his attempts were futile. His legs were still bound, and Fishlegs was not really in a state to mount a rescue. Harald continued throat fucking Heather for several minutes. Then he noticed Fishlegs no longer moved. He withdrew from Heather's mouth, pulled up his trousers again and walked over to Fishlegs. He had fainted. Harald quickly brought him back to consciousness.

The whole night the torture continued. Fishlegs could no longer stand. His arms and lower legs were broken. His back was rent open with lashes of the whip and his belly and breast were skimmed at places. To give Fishlegs a little respite at times, Harald continued to use Heather as his own personal fuck doll. When breakfast was served, Harald left the two prisoners. Fishlegs was still alive. The wounds he gave him brought him to the edge. He liver still. Those were his orders after all. Not his problem if he succumbed to the wounds later.

Snotlout was not at breakfast, so Harald dealt out duties for the day. Early afternoon a seriously hungover Snotlout started eating some lunch.

He was pleased to learn that Harald had left Fishlegs live. The two of them checked Fishlegs, and indeed he still breathed.

A few days later Snotlout got a terror mail from Hiccup, bringing news. He didn't know if that meant good news or bad news yet, but he learnt that Stoick had died. He, Heather and Fishlegs and any representative of the Vagabonds were invited to the funeral ceremony.

Snotlout, Lars and Harald would go. They would think of some excuse for Heather and Fishlegs not being there. But this was a precarious situation. If Hiccup found out what he had done… He did not want to dwell on it.


	12. Chapter 12: The gates of Valhalla

Hiccup sat at his father's bed. He looked at the mighty man. Even deep in his illness, Stoick was mighty. He refused to give in to weakness. But more than that, he was his father. He had been a great chief and a stern father, but a loving one. Stoick looked down at his father. He bowed his head in respect. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Slowly he arose from the pyre. Tuffnut approached him, and with a soft voice he said: "It's time."

Hiccup nodded and together with Spitelout he lifted the pyre and carried it to the funeral ship.

Spitelout walked through the doors and down the stairs going from the great hall. There the people of Berk stood on both sides of the pathway leading down. Hiccup held the front of the pyre, Spitelout the back. Together they worked to get Stoick down to his final resting place. That was no easy task. Though Stoick had lost a lot of weight in the last months, he was still a corpulent figure.

Slowly they walked past everybody in the village. Everyone was silent. They halted for a moment at Stoick's house. A great hush was felt through the silence. After a minute or so the two carriers walked on. They walked past the smithy and down the ramps to the docks. Here no longer the people of Berk stood, but the numerous allies and friends of the late chief of Berk.

They saw Alvin, the Treacherous, with his head bowed in respect to his old enemy. With him were a dozen high-ranking Outcasts.

They saw Dagur, formerly the Deranged. Now known as Dagur the Changed. The Berserker tribe was a strong ally of Berk's now, and he had known Stoick since birth. Ever since he first accompanied his father on diplomatic missions to Berk he had held Stoick in high regard. Though at that time, Stoick's son had been less lucky, but Hiccup had forgiven Dagur a long time ago.

They saw Lars Grimborn, nephew to the late Viggo Grimborn. As far as adversaries go, he admitted defeat when he saw it and wanted to rebuild his tribe afterwards with help of Berk. It seemed only yesterday that they sat in the Great Hall holding a peace conference. It had been a year almost.

They saw Ingrid, chieftess of Rhineland Isle. Nobody had even heard of her or her tribe, but Hiccup had come to her in her time of need, and now that his father died, it was no more than appropriate to attend the funeral.

They saw Mildew. Hiccup had granted him safe passage for the funeral only. He was still a convicted traitor, and banished from the tribe. But with the friendship that was established between the Outcast and the Hooligans, his chance for revenge was gone, and he had given up. Even he had his helmet off and bowed in respect to his old chief.

The pyre moved down further and eventually came to the funeral ship. Hiccup and Spitelout walked across the gangway aboard and walked up to the centre of the main deck. There they slowly lowered the bed onto the deck. Inch by inch they lowered him. Inch by inch Stoick moved closer to what would be his last journey. Inch by inch the devastating effect of Stoick's death grew tougher on Hiccup. Finally the pyre was laid square on the floorboards.

Hiccup and Spitelout bowed and kneeled beside him for a moment, then they moved away and got off the ship.

Hiccup was given a bow and an arrow. He lit the arrow over a torch and shot it towards the ship. In response a volley of flaming arrows came from the cliffs. Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and ten more Vikings who had been close to Stoick fired their arrows. They all landed neatly on the deck, on and around Stoick's body.

The ship was cast off. The lines were cut. The currents took the ship and led it out into the ocean.

The ship was slowly engulfed with fire, and the house of Stoick's spirit crumbled to ashes. Stoick sailed towards the west end of the world, where he navigated the great seas unknown to men or beast. He came at last to the beaches of Asgard, realm of the gods.

There he was welcomed as a hero. Stoick walked through the masses, organized in an honorary fashion. All those high and powerful kings and chieftains, those mighty warriors who had passed before him, accompanied him as one of their own. He came to the house of Odin, to the many-halled palace of the greatest lord of all, the founder of the kingship. Odin the Mighty, the Three-faced greeted him and welcomed him to Valhalla. He passed the gates alone proudly. Stoick Haddock the Vast, Chief of Berk and all its holdings, had come home. He would make no more journey save one. The one at the End of new beginnings. But when the horn would be blown, when that herald of doom would sound throughout the nine world, not even Odin knew. Only Frigg knew, but never told. Stoick chose a seat at the great table and sat down. Stoick the Vast had found his place, no less honoured in death then in life.

On Berk, the masses gathered in the great hall. Surprisingly it all fit. Hiccup raised his cup to Stoick.

"My friends, a mighty man has fallen. He was slain by a villain unknown to us, using a weapon unknown to us. A cowardly act, befitting the person responsible for this. I now know much that I did not before. One thing is now clear. Our chief was murdered."

He let a pause fall. Everybody was stunned at this news.

"He was murdered, yes. I only found that out right before the dreadful message came. I found that out while I was down south. These people have no mercy, no sense of honour, no dignity. They have murdered our chief by means of a poison unknown to us."

He held out his arm with the cup high aloft.

"But I swear this on my father's passing. I will not rest before the coward behind his demise is found. I will not rest before the one responsible is punished. I will not rest before Stoick is avenged!

He will take up his seat in Valhalla. He will be among the blessed ones to guide Odin, and fight for the gods in their last battle. It is painful for us to lose our Stoick the Vast, but he will always be with us. And we will never abandon him.

To Stoick the Vast!"

And Hiccup drank from his cup. All the hall did likewise. Hiccup symbolically now sat on the chief's chair. He had not done that since he became chief, half a year ago. It symbolized the change of power. Hiccup had now gotten into his inheritance. He was now the Haddock family elder and everyone who looked at Hiccup at that time, saw the power radiating from his face. This was a true chief, of noble birth. A leader, a devout son, a friend and a caring guardian to his people.

There followed a lot of drinking. The sadness they drank away. Songs were sung of the glorious battles in Stoick's life. His greatest moments, poetically versed by skilled minstrels, were etched into the stone and carried to the archives underneath the hall.

Hiccup saw Snotlout drinking heavily, and decided this was the best time to exert some truth from his lips.

"Snotlout!" he said "Come with me."

Astrid followed them and the three of them walked into a private room.

"Snotlout. Tell me, where are Heather and Fishlegs? I haven't seen them on Berk today. Are they not well?"

"Unfortunately they are, Hiccup. They are both ill." Snotlout lied, but his drunken face started showing signs. "I have ordered my second-in-command to look after them." That was sort of the truth.

"You're lying!" Astrid yelled, "You know just as well that Fishlegs would not miss Stoick's funeral for anything. And Heather would let nothing stop her from coming here, least of all being sick."

"I am telling you, Astrid," Snotlout said, "They are ill. They were too ill to travel."

"Snotlout?" Hiccup asked. He looked worried. "What is going on?"

"Nothing, I'm telling you. They are very ill. They are contagious, even some of my tribesmen got ill!"

"So now they are contagious, Snotlout?" said Astrid. "Hiccup. Something is up. I have had no letters from Heather stating anything of the sort. I don't believe him. We need to get to Thor's Wrath."

"No!" Snotlout shouted, a little to quick.

"Why not?" Hiccup asked.

"Uhmm… you might get sick yourself!"

"Snotlout," Hiccup said. "I don't believe a word you're saying. We will leave tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, you are to get to Spitelout's hut, and stay there. If you leave, you are in deep trouble. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Hiccup," Snotlout tried once more, "but I'm telling you, nothing's wrong!"

"Snotlout, I know you're drunk." Hiccup stated. "However, it is obvious something happened on Thor's Wrath to Heather and Fishlegs, that shouldn't have. I'll be going there tomorrow morning, when I'm sober. Meanwhile, you, Snotlout, will go to your dad's and stay there or I will lock up your butt myself. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, chief."

"And one more thing. This is your tribe, and we are your tribesmen. The Vagabonds are not!"

Snotlout left the room defeated.


	13. Chapter 13: Day of Horror

"This can't continue." said a large brown-bearded man on high chair.

"Agreed. But what can we do about it?" Another man said. He had no beard, but a great silver-white moustache.

"These demons must be put down." said the man with the heavy brown beard.

"We've tried that already," said a man, smaller in stature, with yellow-blond hair and a seemingly perpetual frown on his forehead. "You know that. Do you know how many ships we've lost on such journeys?"

A man now stood up from his chair at the back. A man with a light brown beard starting, accompanied by a moustache and two fiercely piercing eyes now took up speech.

"Aye. We have. We all have. Many ships have we lost. Many good men have fallen on this account. We have all tried to fight these dragons, but gotten nowhere. How far has any one of those expeditions gotten? Have we ever had an advantage upon these quests? Have any of us ever set foot upon the nest?"

He tilted his head left and right, looking for anyone who had a positive response to those questions. He continued.

"No. None of us have. Never have Vikings come close to taking the fight to them! But no longer! We know approximately where their nest is. It is in all our best interests to take the fight to them."

The blonde-haired man replied:

"But how? Every single expedition is ambushed long before they reach those dreaded shores."

The Viking with the starting beard explained:

"That's why we have to work together." Some rumour started at this. "I know we have our differences. But we have our own tribes to think about. We have our people to think about. That needs to be the main priority of this meeting. In fact, the whole reason we are gathered here today is to discuss the dragon problem. We are expected to get a plan together to wipe these demons from our waters. It is our responsibility. All of us know this. We are chieftains, all of us. And a chief protects his own."

"You can say that easily, Stoick, but you know just as well as I that this is far more complicated than you make the situation seem to be." The chief with the heavy beard said. I have always had good trading relations with the people of Berk and the house of Haddock, but not all of us are as eager to work together. Many feuds have spread through islands and generations. We cannot easily put all that aside. I'm not saying it is impossible, but a lot of negotiating will be needed."

"I agree with Oswald," said the blond chief.

"Aye." said a chief, who was bald, and wore a bright blue hauberk. "You make a valid point Stoick. We need to work together. But that is going to take time. There is a lot of bad blood that needs reconciliation. Only then can we think of openly challenging the power of Helheim's Gate."

A man, dressed in a pitch-black cloak entered. His hair was almost as black as his cloak. He stepped into the gathering slowly. His steps barely made a sound. When he was at the centre of the ring, he halted and looked around. He looked every single chief straight in the eye. When he had seen every one of them, he said softly, but with a hidden power leaking through:

"Chieftains of the Archipelago. I may have a viable alternative. I can assure for you a future without dragons. I can give you a future without these demos, without the nightly fear. And a future where you have plenty of time for your petty squabbles. I ask only a slight favour in return. A little remuneration if you'd like. Let's say about twenty-five thousand pieces of gold …"

A gasp went through the room.

"… from each of you."

"That is ridiculous!"

"Go home!"

"Who are you anyway?"

Mostly laughter was heard. Did he really think they would offer him the incredulous sum of over two hundred thousand pieces of gold?

"I really don't see the fun, gentlemen," he continued. "As to the question asked. My name is Drago Blydwórstson, also known as Drago Bludvist. I offer you a relief from your troubles, for an appropriate refund. I urge you to think on my offer carefully. Your lives may depend on it."

The blond-haired chief stood up.

"I am Ragnar Olafson, chief of Rhineland Isle. Though we ourselves are not burdened with the trouble of these dragons, we are prepared to help our kin. I was under the impression this was a meeting of chieftains. You do not carry the title of chief. Neither do you have anything to offer us, save idle talk. Leave!"

"You will regret that decision. The fire will find you all," was all he said.

Drago walked out of the ring. Just before passing the door, he let out a tremendous roar. It seemed not to be human, but the roar was so raw, so feral and wild, it sounded like the true voice of power. It lasted about ten seconds. Then he looked back at the chieftains. They all saw right into the eyes. They belonged to a man deranged, a man wild, with a fire in his heart, but a soul of ice. The last they remembered of him was the side of his cloak. The pitch-black cloak on his back seemed to be alight for a few seconds. Then he left.

That was it. Stoick stood up from his chair to take up speech again, when a new roar was heard. Louder than Drago's, and far more powerful. They all recognized this sound immediately. It was a dragon roar. A great dragon.

Much time to think about it they had not. Fire crashed through the roof of the gathering house, beams and stories collapsed. Logs fell down. Chief Ragnar fell first. A support beam from the roof collapsed upon his chair. He never even saw it coming. Dragon fire appeared on all sides. The chieftains were trapped. Stoick and Oswald darted towards a window in the back of the house. They jumped through. The fire scorched their skin and hair. Oswald lost a great deal of his heavy beard that day. The moment they scrabbled up from the ground and leapt away they saw the danger they were in.

The hall was completely surrounded by dragons. All the dragons were spewing fire, acid and lava at the hall. Behind them the two chiefs heard the hall crumble and collapse. Soon nothing but smoking ash was left. They dared not stay to look for survivors. Stoick and Oswald ran past the dragons until they were safely hidden from view under the eaves of the forest.

Twenty-four years later, Oswald still held vivid memories of that horrific day. He thought he had escaped the worst possible fate, unlike his fellow chiefs. Eleven chieftains lost their life that day. Honourable and just men, each of them. He and Stoick were the only ones to escape. But now it seemed to him his colleagues had escaped. That they were the lucky ones. Stoick and he were now being punished. He, Oswald the Agreeable, rightful chief of the Berserker tribe, had been kidnapped from his home seven years ago, and brought to this disastrous place. A dungeon it seemed, and seldom light came in. He lived in seclusion; the only other person, beside his prison guards he ever saw, was a lone woman. She had been brought in a few weeks after him. They talked seldom, as speech was severely punished by the guards. He had the scars to show for that.

All he found out was that the woman joining him in seclusion was none other than the chieftess of Berk, Valka Haddock. The very same who had disappeared after she was taken in a dragon raid. He had supported Stoick in that tough time. He even searched for her on many islands. He could only guess the horrors that woman must have been put through. First by the dragons, next by Drago Bludvist.

Because indeed, that is where they now were. In the dungeons of Drago Bludvist, and he had been there now for five years.

The guards came in, and unlocked both gates.

"Get out," one of them ordered. "You'll be shipped away. Finally we'll be rid of you scum. Drago wants you close, he said. And Drago always gets what he wants. Hahaha."

The two guards laughed at what was undoubtedly some inside joke.

They were led through the catacombs. After a few minutes he saw it. After seven years of imprisonment he finally saw the daylight. But somehow, he wasn't really eased by that thought.


	14. Chapter 14: At Long Last

A changewing flew over Thor's Wrath around dusk. As on Berk songs were sung of the heroics of their former chief, the man flying over him home island felt accomplished. Across the pines, over the rolling hills, beyond the cliffs and the little stream plummeting over the edge of the island, away over endless miles of ocean, the sun turned red-golden as she set. The sky turned into a beautiful colourful palette of colours. The western sky grew a light navy, turning lighter overhead, to a pistachio, on to a yellowish-orange haze in the distance. Flames of light erupted from the eastern horizon, touching the pink hazes in the small clouds overhead.

The rider beheld the magnificence displayed to him, but felt no real joy. He tried to determine whether he thought it was beautiful, but he could not decide. Although, for a second, just as the sun had sunk in the grey beyond and the time of shadows engulfed slowly engulfed the island from the beaches up until only the top of the uppermost trees were alight, the seemingly green tongs of flame brought him a confident feeling. A feeling of success, of victory, of satisfaction. A memory stirred of his past, but he'd never let that get in the way. He refused to remember. And yet in that one moment as only the tips of the trees were lit, a memory stirred. An old memory. Again he felt lonely. He felt cast away, and belittled. Quickly the memory faded from his mind. His revenge had been complete. Twelve dead chiefs, and the last one imprisoned. All he regretted was that Stoick never knew it was him. Finally he had what it took. And he had grabbed it by the horns. He was master. Master of all, men, women and dragon alike. All would soon bow to him. Not long now before he would reveal himself.

Just one thorn in his eye remained. The prosperity of Berk was to end. He was going to put an end to it. The inexperienced new chief had made a name for himself these past few years, making peace after long lasting feuds. But he doubted whether this young Haddock knew the dark tales of the past. A past that would come to haunt him. Revenge is patient, and after much preparation, all the more sweet the victory would become.

The rider moved towards the upper edge of the forest, so his changewing could blend in with its surroundings. He looked around across the ocean. In the distance he saw a small ship. It was at least an hour's sailing, but he could guess whom it'd be. Their de jure chief was to come back. That title he might carry for some time in the future. That depended on how long he still remained of any use to him. After all, this Snotlout was so easily manipulated. He flew down towards the docks, and told the guard them that Chief Jorgenson was to arrive within the hour, and to prepare for his arrival.

All knew who had the real power on this island by now. In secret he had infiltrated the Dragon Hunters almost six years ago. Over time he moved up the ranks and had been a chief advisor to Ryker Grimborn for over a year. He thought he could help these people destroy Berk. But everything was messed up when Viggo and Ryker had a falling-out. He had to start over, but this time with an easier prey. Well, "prey" still implies that the hunted still have freedom to roam; "cattle" might be more appropriate. Snotlout did everything he told him. Love was such a powerful weakness. He glided towards the meeting hall and gathered some soldiers.

Time passed and after a little over an hour Snotlout stepped inside the meeting hall to get some food, before tucking in.

"Harald!" he said enthusiastically. "How is the village. No troubles I presume?"

"Nothing whatsoever, sir." Harald answered.

Snotlout took some bread and ate it hungrily. He had hoped to be here a few hours earlier, but the weather was foul.

"Just wondering, sir. Where is Hookfang?"

"That lazy ton of bones, went of taking a night flight. He'll be back in a few hours I guess. How's your training going?"

"Fine." He snapped with his fingers, and suddenly Shadowwing's figure was silhouetted against a nearby pillar.

"Great!" Snotlout said. Now Snotlout turned a little more depressed, "and how are Fishlegs and Heather?"

Harald signalled with his fingers for the guards to approach. As they did so, he answered:

"They are … uhm… alive. I'll show you."

"Good! But I think I'll take a nap. We'll see tomorrow morning, won't we."

"I'll have to insist." Harald said with a slightly menacing tone.

"I really don't think so, Harald. I'm tired, and I am going to sleep, whether you insist or not." Snotlout continued eating.

"You will come with me, Snotlout Jorgenson. Whether you like it or not."

Snotlout looked up from his plate. He was getting annoyed at this conversation.

"Did I not make myself clear? I will go to my bed, and take a nap. You cannot address me like this Harald, and if you were anyone else I'd have you flogged. I'm still your chief here, and you will listen."

"But you see Snotlout, that is where you are wrong. You are officially relieved as acting chief." Snotlout startled at that. Harald turned to the guards. "Take him downstairs."

The guards grabbed Snotlout from where he sat, and under loud protestations he was "escorted" out of the meeting hall, and into the dungeons. There he was placed inside a cell, near the ones that held Heather and Fishlegs.

Both of them were in terrible shape. Fishleg's back had healed a bit, and no longer showed open wounds. They had gotten treatment so no infection would take hold. Heather got a few rags from the guards after a few days so she no longer had to endure her punishment naked. Fishleg's arms were still broken, but on the mend. No treatment was arranged for that, other than a splint attached to both his lower arms.

Snotlout's jailing was an odd turn of events. Fishlegs and Heather had been wide awake when he was literally thrown into an adjacent cell. They wondered at this. Had Snotlout not been in complete control this whole time? Or was there something else that played a part? No information whatsoever did they get from Snotlout. He remained silent and crawled away in shame. Shame of what he had done and ordered to be done to Heather. Shame for his behaviour. Love was something a Jorgenson never succumbed to. Yet he had. Shame for being used by Harald. All this time he had been a mere puppet. He could barely live with himself. He made no contact whatsoever with Fishlegs and Heather. He could not bear to see them, or their predicament.

Fishlegs and Heather had been furious with Snotlout. But now they saw him thrown in on behalf of someone Snotlout trusted completely. They tried talking to him, demanding an explanation, demanding an apology. Not a word seemed to reach him. The guards no longer cared if they spoke or not.

The next morning was one for answers. Snotlout started talking to Fishlegs, saying he hadn't meant what he did to them. And that he certainly was not responsible for the treatment they had gotten in the cells. Fishlegs did not believe him. Snotlout still did not acknowledge Heather's presence. That hurt too much. He wanted to apologize, but how to do that? How to apologize for violating a person's most basic rights. How to apologize for entering into a woman's most sacred area without permission. How to apologize for being too weak to resist his lust?

He told them he had been to Berk and that Stoick had passed. Fishlegs fell to the ground in tears upon hearing this. He had always hoped Gobber would be back in time with a cure to save the day. Snotlout decided to tell Fishlegs everything he knew. When it came to trust, that was a starter. He told him he had lied to Astrid and Hiccup about him being absent from Stoick's funeral. He told them he suspected they did not believe him.

"I don't think they believed me. Hiccup did send me back, but with little trust. I am sure he will come somewhere soon to check on you guys. That will set everything right."

"And who is in charge now?" Fishlegs asked.

"Harald is," said Snotlout. "He's been counselling me since I came here. And obviously I was fooled. He's been after the Chief's post ever since Viggo and Ryker died, I guess. And he is merciless, I can tell you."

"Really?" said Fishlegs sarcastically. He showed him the wounds on his back and face so they'd be clearly visible. "No need to tell me that. Some treatment for trying to open a door."

"I am really sorry about that, Fishlegs," Snotlout started.

"O save it, will you. You're not sorry. You wanted me. Just admit it. You wanted me so badly, and you were too weak to resist. You're nothing but a weakling, Snotlout. You could not even take me on your own. You had Harald to help you. You could not even rape me properly!" Heather yelled at him.

Snotlout dripped off to the other side of his cell.

"And now you think you're so sad because you're in here with us. Don't you?" Heather continued. "I've told you before, I had given you one chance to apologize. You screwed that up, and I can assure you, if ever I get my axe in my hands again, the first thing I'll do is use it on your overgrown head."

Snotlout remained quiet for the remainder of the day. He did not eat, and refused any further contact with the guards, Heather or Fishlegs.

In the great hall, Harald was preparing for the arrival of another ship. Around midnight he got the news that its lights were sighted. He went down towards the docks to wait for it. As the ship approached the docks, the torches on the docks were lit. Harald and his escort of ten soldiers awaited the ship at one of the piers. Two guards took the ropes from the ship and tightened it to the wooden bollards. A gangway was led down. In the shimmer of the torchlight Harald discerned two bent figures, escorted by eight sailors. One was an old-looking man with a full beard. He was bend forward as if laden with age, but walked with a pace that one might look to find in a skilled warrior. Behind him was a woman with half long hair. Her hair had a red brownish tint and reached no further than just her shoulders.

Both walked with their hand bound behind their backs and were pushed to walk across the gangway towards Harald and his men.

"Oswald!" Harald said, with a hint of enjoyment in his voice, "how nice of you to join me. And you brought Valka Haddock with you I see. Good. O, come on. What's with the gloomy faces? Is this any way to greet an old acquaintance?"

Oswald stood still, a few yards before the nearest feet he beheld in the weak light. He looked up, and his face turned sour.

His voice sounded as bad as a low menacing but powerless sound escaped his larynx.

"Drago," he growled.


	15. Chapter 15: A Cold Welcome

"Hiccup," said Astrid, "you know something is up. Something is wrong with Fishlegs and Heather."

"But Astrid," came the reply, "I just found out my father was murdered. Our chief was murdered! We need to get back to that island and find out what we can!"

"No." Astrid held her arms in front of her demonstratively. "No way. Our friends are in danger. We can't leave them."

"I can't let this go, Astrid. My father was poisoned. My father! I will find whoever is behind this!"

"And just forget about Fishlegs and Heather?"

"You know Heather can take care of herself."

"You saw how Snotlout acted. He's definitely hiding something. Something bad!"

"I get that, and I'm sure he'll fix it – somehow."

"'Somehow?' Please. Snotlout won't fix it. You know that. He's probably the one who caused the problems!"

"And what if he is right? He did write that everything was alright between him and Heather. Well, alrighter. What if they are really that sick. We can't risk a contagious disease spreading through the archipelago."

"You said it yourself, Hiccup. 'I don't believe a word you're saying, Snotlout.' And now your assuming he spoke the truth. No way he did. You saw that. You heard that."

"But, Astrid. My father …"

"Your father would want you to take care of your friends. He would want you to put aside your personal vendetta …"

"It's not a vendetta. He was the chief. It is my duty …"

"Sure it was. He'd want you to be the chief. 'A chief protects his own.' Does that sound familiar? You are our chief and friend. You cannot abandon Fishlegs and Heather."

"But …"

"No buts. Even if Heather and Fishlegs are strangely ill, it is your job to take Gothi and het yourself to Thor's Wrath to find out what is going on. For all our sakes."

Hiccup sighed.

"Fine. You keep an eye on Berk, and I'll go to Snotlout."

"In your dreams. Someone needs to keep an eye on you."

A deeper sigh followed.

"Alright. I'll get Gothi."

Hiccup walked towards Gothi's. There he asked her to come with him to Thor's Wrath. She whistled and quickly her gronckle appeared. Within seconds Gothi had jumped on the back of that dragon. Hiccup still marvelled at her agility. Hiccup walked back to his house, seeing Astrid had already packed supplies for a few days' trip.

The three of them left Berk and headed north. They took shelter at dusk, and slept at a remote island somewhere halfway.

The next morning Hiccup awoke feeling Astrid lying tightly beside him. Her body heat radiated off her. Hiccup caressed her hair. She was so beautiful. Astrid stirred but did not wake up. It was still before dawn, but the twilight was fading already. Hiccup truly loved her. He gave her a little kiss on her neck. He sat up and saw Gothi looking at him. He quickly grabbed some more clothing and put it on. Gothi gestured to Hiccup to come over. Hiccup went to sit beside the old woman.

Gothi drew something in the sand. It was riddled with ash from the fire.

"Yes, Gothi. I love her very much."

Gothi drew some more symbols in the dirt. A lot of symbols actually. Apparently she was writing some sort of story down for him. Hiccup had trouble reading the signs. He knew some of them from Gobber, but he certainly wasn't a fluent reader of old runes.

When he was done reading, he looked up aghast. "Gothi!" he said, "No way. I just got married, there is a crisis going on. I have to avenge my father and Snotlout has lied in my face. Do you really think this is the right time for that?"

Gothi pointed to Hiccup, then to Astrid. Then she drew an obvious "yes" in the sand.

"I understand I have to provide an heir. I want to, really. But the time is not now. I know Astrid will not want to …"

"Want what?" said Astrid, sleepily and just awoken.

"Uhm… Gothi is adamant we have to provide an heir to Berk."

"Well, we do, don't we?"

"Now you start as well? Astrid!"

"What? You don't like our own little alone-time?"

"That's not it. I love it. But we can't have a little tyke running of beside us at this time. There is too much going on!"

"Hiccup, it takes 10 moons for a baby to be born. You know that. A lot may change in that time. You can't plan that."

"Anyway," Hiccup turned away from the conversation, "we need to get to Snotlout. Mount up!"

Astrid jumped upon Stormfly and Toothless eagerly awaited Hiccup. Not much later the three of them soared high up in the air.

"You're not getting rid of this that easily, Hiccup!" said Astrid above the wind. "What made you think I don't want to be pregnant?"

"Well, you're all … you." said Hiccup, "You're Fearless Astrid, a fighter, you'd be a Valkyrie if I didn't know better. Would you really be ready to be a mother now?"

"Nope. Not now. But in ten moons, who knows?"

Hiccup sighed and remained silent. They'd decided to that once they landed on Thor's Wrath they'd demand to see Heather and Fishlegs, so Gothi could help them. That would bring Snotlout in quite a predicament, as they were sure Heather and Fishlegs weren't ill at all. The rest depended on is reaction.

The shape of the island slowly came into view. After a few minutes they saw the outlines of the village. A dragon approached them. It flew a bit haphazardly, and as they met it in the air, they saw why. A soldier was riding it, but his nudges were a little strong. The soldier hailed Hiccup.

"Who are you and what business do you have on Thor's Wrath?"

"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk and I have come to bring aid to two of my kin. They are deadly ill I hear."

The messager gave him a queer look before responding.

"They are taken care of. You'd better leave now."

"I will not leave before I see my kin! Tell Snotlout to let me pass!"

"Sorry sir, I am under strict order to not let you …"

But Hiccup, Astrid and Gothi already flew over to the island, completely ignoring the messager. They did not come far however. A salvo of rocks, dragonroot arrows and bolas was hurled towards them from the island. They escaped the first salvo and tried again. The blasts were too thick to safely navigate, and Toothless roared a retreat signal. The three of them turned back, and were met again by the messager.

"I told, you. Now, get lost!"

There being not much to do about it, Hiccup signalled the other two and they flew towards a nearby island.

There they regrouped. Snotlout had just declared war on them. This was a whole new game. Even if they safely got onto the island, they were pretty sure they wouldn't find Heather and Fishlegs unnoticed.

Astrid now knew for certain that they weren't ill at all. Heather and Fishlegs were locked up. It was the only logical explanation. And since they had not received any letter warning them about this, this must have been well planned. How could Snotlout do this?

Hiccup wasn't as sure. Snotlout did seem troubled when they had talked to him after the funeral. Could there be something more behind this?

So many questions. And none of them they could answer here. After an hour's rest the three of them returned to Berk.

Back on Berk, Hiccup sent a terror mail to Snotlout.

" _Snotlout,_

 _Astrid, Gothi and I halted in the air and attacked by your troops when we came to Thor's Wrath this morning, saying it was by your orders. I demand an explanation. It better be a good one. I do not wish for armed conflict, but if I have to, I will._

 _Bring me Heather and Fishlegs immediately. I guess they aren't ill at all. I urge you not to test me. You have two days._

 _Hiccup_ "

The next morning a reply came.

" _Hiccup,_

 _Berk may be yours, Thor's Wrath is mine. You can't tell me what to do._

 _I had told you kindly before not to get to Heather and Fishlegs. It is for your own safety. I do not wish to spread the disease. As stubborn as you are, I gave you several chances to turn back. It only came to catapults as a last resort, I don't like it either._

 _Fishlegs and Heather will stay here under my care, they're too weak to be moved, and it isn't safe to let them pass my shores._

 _Stand down, Hiccup. We should be on the same page here._

 _Snotlout_ "

" _Snotlout Jorgenson,_

 _You are a citizen of Berk, and therefore you will listen to me. As your chief I order you to surrender Heather and Fishlegs to my care. Gothi will know how to treat them._

 _The deadline still stand. One day._

 _HHHIII_ "

A few hours before dawn came the final letter from Snotlout.

" _Hiccup,_

 _I don't care what you think or order me to do. Stand down or we will have war._

 _Chief Snotlout Jorgenson_ "

Hiccup read the letter thrice. There was no talking to this guy anymore. Hiccup ordered all the dragon riders to patrol the island in turns. Berk's ships were made ready to sail at his command.

"How did it come to this, Astrid? Are we really going to go to war against Snotlout?"

"You no longer have a choice. He's even named himself chief! It's obvious we can't talk to him anymore."

"I just hope Heather and Fishlegs are alright."

A yell came from Sven, swooping in on his monstrous nightmare.

"Ship approaching from the North!"


	16. Chapter 16: Maskirovka

**Author's Note: As I said in the comments, I have been told that explicit texts belong in a different rating, MA. However, I cannot rate my story MA, so I'll tone it down.**

Toothless flew beside Sven's nightmare as the sheep herd led Hiccup on to the ship in sight. Its colours were flying high, sails out. The crest on the sails however was redundant, as the ship itself already told everybody its nature. Here was a warship of the former Dragon Hunter navy. Its front keel breaking the water midway. The side keels cutting through the soft layers just behind the water swelling at the bow. The greens of the dragonproof chains and other deckwork shone a bright fluorescent turquoise.

Determinately it was steered straight for Berk. Toothless felt a nudge from Hiccup, and prepared himself to approach carefully. Hiccup and Sven approached the ship carefully keeping well away from the ship.

The men aboard saw the two dragons nearing the vessel, slowing down and hovering just out of bowshot off the bow. The ship was fully armed and manned, but so far was alone and seemed not to prepare for an assault. Hiccup and Sven started circling the Dragon Hunter ship.

One of the men aboard took up command and shouted something inaudible. Immediately ten men took up the ropes from the three centre sails and pulled up the cottons. Slowly the sails were folded up at the top of the mast and side beams. The vessel slowly decreased its speed.

The man at the helm took up a white piece of cloth and beckoned with it to the night fury and its rider.

Hiccup thought for a moment and then sped down until he was well within earshot.

"Chief Haddock!" said the man at the helm. Hiccup noticed who it was.

"Lars Grimborn," he said in token of recognition.

"Can we parlay and make berth at the Berk's docks?" he asked.

"Aye. As long as your men keep aboard, and below deck. Use the oars to get into the bay."

"Thank you, chief Haddock!"

Hiccup flew back off towards Sven.

"Sven, stay here and make sure they get into the harbour safely. No more men on the top deck then necessary. They row to shore. Accompany them until they reach the harbour. If you think something's off, you know the signal."

"Yes chief."

Hiccup flew back towards Berk. When he reached the docks, he touched down. He climbed off Toothless' back and gave him a hug.

"Now, Toothless, I want you to do something. Stay here and make sure nobody leaves the docks."

Hiccup left and started climbing towards the village when Toothless stepped after Hiccup.

"No, Toothless. Stay and guard. Nobody gets through!"

Toothless looked down with an extremely sad face, then turned around and sat guarding the entrance to the docks.

Hiccup climbed the wooden ramps up to town and ran to the great hall. There Astrid still walked around and ordered people around to gather food and such.

"Astrid," said Hiccup, "gather as many people as you can, armed and prepared, and get them in position over the docks."

Astrid ran off, shouting and ordering everyone to the armoury. Hiccup ran back to the docks, and saw Lars' ship was already mooring. Hiccup got unto the docks, past Toothless, and took up the bow line and attached it to a bollard on the ramps. The aft line followed shortly after. A plank was laid out from the deck onto the ramp.

"Lars Grimborn," Hiccup said in a strong voice, "You may disembark."

Lars stepped quietly onto the ramps. Hiccup led him over the ramps towards the village.

"Stay here, bud. Make sure no one gets off the boat."

Toothless let out a groan in response. Hiccup and Lars walked on to the inner village and passed the rows of guards. Lars became visibly frightened, but the regained his self-control and walked sternly by Hiccup's side. The two entered the great hall.

"Everybody, leave the hall," was all Hiccup said. A dozen people or so who sat and walked there got up and left immediately. Hiccup led Lars to a table and offered a seat.

"Chief Haddock," started Lars, "I bear a message from your kinsman, Snotlout Jorgenson. He says he regrets the situation as it has developed recently, and he wishes to be at peace."

"We are at the brink of war. I want peace more than anything." Hiccup sighed. "Why has he not come himself?"

"Master Jorgenson has other duties that keep from going to Berk at the moment. However, he is prepared to talk to you privately as soon as possible. Between you and me, chief. You know what a hothead he is, and his mood has grown with each new letter he received."

"Then tell him this," said Hiccup. "Tell Snotlout he can come, and I can assure you he won't be judged until we have spoken in private."

"I am sorry, Chief." Lars bowed his head. "Snotlout told me he did not trust you would keep your word, and he does not trust coming here."

"Then what is your purpose here? Snotlout wishes to talk, but he won't come? I can assure you, after my last reception at Thor's Wrath he can hardly expect me to meet him there."

"We wish for you to discuss this on a neutral island. One out of the way, and not engulfed in these politics."

Hiccup though for a moment, then said: "Good. I will arrange a place. Tell Snotlout to expect a letter from me. It may take some time. Give it two weeks from now. During this 'meeting' I can understand he will take with him a number of guards. So will I. Meanwhile, I urge him not to write any more provocative letters. Stand the army down, and I will do the same. And I want the assurances Heather and Fishlegs are unharmed."

Hiccup looked into Lars' eyes, trying to read them, but to no avail.

"Are these terms agreeable?"

"I think so. I will deliver the message myself."

Hiccup and Lars now exited the great hall, and Hiccup led Lars back to his ship. The ship hoisted its sails and got off as quick as they could.

The people of Berk got back to their work and regular duties. It was decided quickly after that Hiccup would write a letter to chieftess Ingrid of Rhineland Isle to ask her to host this meeting. Hiccup would take Astrid, the dragons' auxiliary, and some soldiers to accompany his thither. He expected Snotlout would bring a similar amount.

" _Chieftess Ingrid Lorelei,_

 _A falling-out has occurred between me and Snotlout Jorgenson, the person I left in charge of the Vagabonds' tribe. Both of us are keen to resolve this but pride is a stubborn foe._

 _A few months ago we came your aid in the dragon raids. Now we require your assistance. Will you help provide a neutral ground for these negotiations and possibly perform the role of mediator in what otherwise could escalate to outright war?_

 _I am deeply sorry to have to ask this of you. I would seem we only meet in times of crisis._

 _Chief Hiccup Haddock_ "

Having sent the message with the nearest terror he could find, he walked towards Astrid. The two of them left the great hall together and decided to get an early night.

An early night certainly was not something Snotlout was about to receive. He hoped on one, but that never came. The cells were hard and cold. The bars like ancient pillars barred the way and the floor was getting more disgusting by the day. Cleaning was something the guards had stopped doing in the cells.

The company was not much better. Heather sat in the cell next to him, and still refused to talk to him. Whenever Snotlout tried to start a conversation she ignored him completely, said nothing, sat in the corner and looked half to Fishlegs. She wanted Fishlegs near her now. She wanted to feel him, she longed for his loving touch. She needed him so much now. Whenever she talked it was in silent whispers, but the sounds always contained words of love and longing for Fishlegs. She barely ate and hardly slept.

Fishlegs was mighty afraid and worried about her in this state. He hoped something about their situation would change, because he could barely hold himself together, let alone be a support for his girlfriend. He still blamed Snotlout fully for what happened to Heather, but they talked. Even if it were with sneers, swear words and verbal blows under the collar.

Hookfang had been off flying when Snotlout was taken to his cell. He loved to fly solo. He loved Snotlout too, of course. As his rider, that is. But he still wanted to feel the true freedom of solo flight once in a while, whenever Snotlout allowed it. Hookfang had been gone for two days when he returned to Thor's Wrath.

It was early afternoon, the meeting hall was just emptying after lunch, when Hookfang moved down inside the village. He walked up past all manner of soldiers and many of the Vagabond residents. When he approached Snotlout's house, he smelled nobody. He pressed his snout against the door. It gave way, but nobody was home. The house appeared abandoned. That did not mean much to Hookfang, who was not used to houses at all, or he would have figured out his predicament – and Snotlout's – earlier. Just down from Snotlout's house stood a watering hall used by the dragons. As not many yet roamed the town, it was still full, and barely even touched for days. Hookfang drank greedily. It was laced with some dragon nip. The smell and feel of the water felt great to Hookfang.

When he was done drinking he got up again he noticed many soldiers around him, carrying swords. With Snotlout not among them, Hookfang grew a little upset. Where was he? Hookfang let out a tremendous roar. Replies came from other dragons in the vicinity, but no Snotlout.

The soldiers approached him, encircling him threateningly. Hookfang blazed up in fire and took on a defensive stance. A few soldiers started grabbing him. Hookfang, flamed up as he was, let out another roar and fired several shots at the soldiers. Some of the soldiers were badly burnt. Hookfang took off and spun around. Once more a blast into the soldiers, and he flew away.

He got as far as the dragon pens. There he heard the familiar call from Meatlug. He settled down and moved in. Just as he got in sight of the dragon pens, Hookfang started seeing blurrily. An arrow had pierced his left wing. The dragon root was slowly taken on by Hookfang's innards. He tried flying off, but bounced against a wall. He lost his balance, and fell flat on his belly. Before he realized it he was muzzled and his skin was doused in water. He lost his consciousness, and his flames died out.


	17. Chapter 17: Pieces on the Board

A piercing noise entered her room in the wee hours of the night. The sound died away slowly but was overwhelmed with another thunderous, but bright blow. The warning bells! Freya leapt up from her bed and in her night gown she crossed over to her window. As the house of the chieftess was at the top of the hill her window presented a great view over the entir village. The bells were rung deafeningly. Everywhere she looked she saw people scurrying from their homes, torches lit. A mass of golden lights flocked to the centre of the village. There a fire leapt up high from a tall building. The rounded roofs at the top a silhouette drawn strongly against the onslaught of light and flames around it. The smoke veiled the stars directly above it. It was still pitch black dark, but the fire showed a horror Freya was unaccustomed to. Freya leapt down and ran to the hallway as quickly as she could. She had recognized the building, it was the dining hall.

"Mom!" she shouted. "Mom! The dining hall's on fire!"

No response. Freya checked her room. It was obvious her mother had not yet come home from her meeting. Fear struck Freya even more. "Her meeting!?" she thought. Freya ran out of the house to the dining hall. Half struggling to keep to her feet as the nightgown more often than not was caught between her feet and the dark dank ground. Her heart raced as she got closer to the fire. It was still burning like a giant torch. As she approached the hall, people started talking in hushed whispers. The rest of the night was a haze to her. Eye witness accounts were erratic at best, but some common patterns could be derived from everything she heard. About an hour after the midnight change of watch a roar was heard. Not much later three dragons were sighted spewing flames onto the hall. Her mother had been inside having a late meeting. As everyone walked out of the burning hall, the chieftess was grabbed and taken away by one of the dragons. What sort of dragon everybody seemed to know for sure:

"Typhoomerang!"

"Gronckle!"

"Fireworm!"

"Scauldron"

Even after dismissing some ludicrous suggestions, there was no common identifier to be found. What was clear was that her mother was no longer with them. When that hit her, she fell silent and started crying. She ran back to the house.

The next morning she was woken by a thud on the door.

"Mistress Freya," yelled the voice. "Please open up!"

Freya got dressed and joined the yelling man.

"A letter for you."

As she started reading several things became clear. Firstly, Hiccup was in trouble, and asked her for help. Secondly, her tribe now regarded her as chieftess.

Freya beckoned to the yelling man to come. As they neared the remains of the burning hall, already many were gathered.

Freya addressed them. Her face was now stern and determined.

"With my mother gone, I will take up command as chieftess of Berk, until she returns. I need forty volunteers for a warship to track the dragons, and find her. Who?"

Immediately some people stepped forward, and the boat was quickly at full capacity.

"Secondly, within a week, a mediation will happen on this island. Our trusted friend and ally Hiccup Haddock of Berk will come to negotiate to prevent a civil war over his own waters. It may seem strange to host this here, especially now, but I can assure you, hosting this event creates provides us with a great boost in security. Considering what happened last night, we can safely assume the dragons have resumed their attacks, but now more coordinated."

"Long live the chieftess!"

Three days later the terrible terror reached the window of Hiccup's house. Upon reading the letter, Hiccup whistled for three more terrors, as the one that just returned needed some rest. To the first he attached a letter to Freya, offering his condolences and thanking her for accepting to host the mediation.

The second letter he sent to Snotlout, conveying what he read in Freya's letter.

The third one he sent to Dagur.

" _Dagur,_

 _I'll keep it short. Snotlout and I will have a meeting on Rhineland Isle in four days. One of the stakes is the freedom of your sister, which I will ensure. As far as we know she is on Thor's Wrath along with Fishlegs, imprisoned I presume. I urge you not to do anything rash._

 _Same as before, Ruff and Tuff will remain in charge of Berk, and if you hear nothing from me for a week, take up arms. I'll keep writing you to let you know what happens._

 _Your brother,_

 _Hiccup_ "

The terrors were sent off. A few hours later a terror was intercepted by Harald's men. It was quickly brought before Harald and after reading the letter he sent a reply:

" _Hiccup,_

 _I'll be there in four days._

 _Snotlout._ "

And surely he was. Four days later the delegations arrived on Rhineland Isle. At dawn came the Dragon Riders led by Hiccup. They settled down in the newly-built hall. It wasn't much, but you privacy and they could all eat without getting wet during a shower. Around midday, two ships appeared on the horizon carrying the men from the Vagabonds. They were preceded by Harald on his changewing, Snotlout on Hookfang and Lars on a deadly nadder he named Spire.

At dusk they ate in the hall. The two parties were separately seated, as far away from each other as was possible. Freya sat down near Snotlout. As she knew nothing about these Vagabonds, she decided it might be good to have her listening ears ready. She quickly found out about the war of the Dragon Hunters and of Snotlout's position as chief.

She found talking to Snotlout real easy. They spent a few hours speaking together, making an occasional joke. She couldn't help but laugh at his jokes. However, whenever she inquired about the events that led to this mediation, Snotlout fell silent or spoke hushedly, as if he was deathly afraid.

At the other table, Spitelout grew antsy. He wanted to talk to his son, but was under strict orders from both Hiccup and the Sirens' chieftess to stay away from the other party until the meeting. He left and got to sleep early.

Snotlout almost enjoyed himself. Almost. Harald sat on the opposite side of the table, and while he talked to Freya, he felt Harald looking at him, threateningly, making him remember who had the real power. All his men listened only to Harald. Snotlout could only do as he was told, or else…

 _(On Thor's Wrath, 4 days earlier)_

Snotlout was rudely woken and taken from his prison cell. He stumbled halfway, and was given ten whiplashes for it. Snotlout squirmed in pain, but dared not speak. He was 'escorted' upstairs, and left the dungeons. He turned a right and got to the meeting hall of Thor's Wrath. Inside Harald was waiting for him.

"Take off his shirt!" he ordered. The soldiers did so in short order.

Harald took up a whip from nearby and started walking menacingly around Snotlout. "Well, hello there, chief." he said, and put as much scorn in the last word as was humanly possible. "I do hoped you enjoyed your new accommodation." He looked to Snotlout's back, and saw a few red spots.

"Apparently not. Perhaps I should teach you some manners. you will answer me, if ask something."

Harald took up the whip and let it come down on Snotlout's back so heard, it crashed through the skin, tearing open the flesh on his back. Snotlout screamed in agony.

"Already? Fishlegs held on much longer." Harald taunted, "Again!"

And again the whip came down, just below his left shoulder. To flesh was revealed now, but the red mark was vivid as blood ranging from his shoulder down to the lower side.

Eight more whiplashes he dealt to Snotlout. When he was done with him, Most of Snotlout's back laid bare deep cuts and wounds and rips. tears swelled down his face and he cried loudly.

"Now, Snotlout, you won't be going back to your cell. No, I think I'll make your fellow dragon riders think you bought your way out. That would be nice, now wouldn't it? Woudn't it?"

"Y… yes, sir," stuttered Snotlout.

"Yes, I thought so too. Now, you will join me and go to Rhineland Isle to have a little chat with dear old Hiccup. And you will do anything I say. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. And should you get any ideas, I will make sure Heather's life will be miserable and her death will be prolongedly painful. You know how good she is with her mouth? Oh and that pussy. You must be so sorry you can't have her."

Fear overwhelmed the blood-stained face. Harald smiled mischievously.

"Perhaps if you are good, I can arrange something. Now, get to the dragon pens and make sure you and that nightmare of yours are ready to leave by dusk."

"Yes, sir." said Snotlout. He made a step towards a door when he felt something thrown at him. "Get into more appropriate clothing." he was told before he took it all up and left to find Hookfang.

"Lars," Harald said. "Get ready the army. Snotlout, you and I will lead two ships to this meeting place. Make your second-in-command follow three days later. When they are in sight of the Sirens' island, they'll wait for my signal. They'll know it when they see it."

"Aye, sir."


	18. Chapter 18: Truth will out

Mediation talks made little or no progress at all on the first day. Astrid was adamant she demanded the immediate release of Heather and Fishlegs. Harald basically told her "No way; that would give up our only leverage." in many times more words. Snotlout and Hiccup remained silent for most of the debate. Hiccup thinking and planning, busy trying to find out Snotlout's plan. Snotlout too afraid to think actually. Even in a verbal debate with Astrid Snotlout still felt the power of Harald and his threats.

Freya had successfully made sure that a brawl did not start. Ten minutes into the talks Astrid grabbed for her axe, only to remember she had left it with the guards. An hour had passed with many a demand passing over the table. Yet, as soon as the demand reached the other side of the large oaken table in was squashed as a fly and a demand was returned, to be squashed the same way.

So far it looked less like a strategic maces and talons game, and more like wrestling contest that was continually throwing in new weapons as the old ones grew blunt. Tensions ran high, Harald demanded Snotlout would get an apology from Hiccup and name him to recognize him as the chief of Thor's Wrath. When he first said that, Astrid laughed at him in his face. After an hour Freya could no longer take the quibbling and paused the meeting. Everybody returned to their rooms. A few hours later lunch was served, and neither party said a word to the other.

Hiccup and Astrid discussed the progress so far, but quickly agreed this was going nowhere. Astrid would try and make some smaller demands. When they returned, they were approached by Freya.

"We will not continue today. Tomorrow at 10 am we will go further. Best to calm the nerves this afternoon. Might I advise taking a walk around the island? I'd be happy to show you around, but since I can't now, I'll arrange for someone else guide you."

"Thanks Freya, that would be great indeed!" Hiccup said.

So the rest of that day Hiccup and Astrid walked together over the island. They were continually guarded by a Siren. Freya wanted to prevent the two parties meeting whatever the cost.

As the chiefly couple sat down on in a large grass pod overlooking the ocean, the subject of their talk turned to Snotlout.

"You know, Hiccup. I don't think we're getting anywhere. I don't care how long we 'cool off', if that Harald guy keeps demanding this sort of stuff, this entire meeting is useless."

"What do you suppose we do then, Astrid?"

"Toss them a bone."

"And what sort of bone did you have in mind?"

Astrid sighed. "I don't know yet. The demand for an apology could be something to consider."

"Perhaps…" said Hiccup absent-mindedly. His face was troubled.

"What is it, Hiccup? I know that face. What is up?"

"Things just don't add up, Astrid. There is something off about this whole affair."

"Yes there is, Snotlout is being an ass."

Hiccup let out a short passing grin. "Yes, but that would not be surprising." His face turned serious again. "I can not imagine how tensions could run so high between Snotlout and Heather or Fishlegs. Of course, he and Fishlegs never really saw eye to eye. But jailing him? That is far too excessive."

"Well," said Astrid, "there was this time when Snotlout continually disobeyed you, leaving us in danger."

"I know, but this is so much more!"

"… and you put him in a position of power."

"I guess," said Hiccup, "but my gut tells me that isn't it. His demands are strange, and have you noticed how only Harald had been speaking."

"So have I. You've been quiet this whole time."

"But at times you look up at me and check my expression for my opinion. That is usual in such a case. And we are married, and have been seeing each other intensively since dragon training six years ago. He only just met this guy, and Harald does not check anything with Snotloout. If anything it looks like Snotlout does not even pay attention to what is said."

As he said this, a thought started in his mind. A terrible thought. One that he had never even considered before. If it were true, then they were all in big trouble.

"No, it can't be." Hiccup mumbled.

"What can't be?" asked Astrid.

"Nothing, just thinking. Something ridiculous."

"Don't give me that. Tell me what you think, and I'll say if it's ridiculous."

"Could it be that we are not dealing with Snotlout at all?"

"What do you mean. He was sitting right there!"

"Yes, I know." said Hiccup. "I mean, who really gets to call the shots on that island. is that really Snotlout? What if Snotlout is being used by this Harald guy? that would mean that the letters we got came from Harald, and not from Snotlout at all!"

"But we know it's Snotlout. You know what Heather said about him. He was the one who scared her. I tell you it's all just Snotlout being Snotlout. My guess is he tried something with Heather, got turned down. Next thing you know Snotlout uses his being chief to imprison Heather. He gets upset, wants to come clean, but is worried for how the people on Thor's Wrath will react. That or he is too stubborn to admit it."

"You're right. They've probably rehearsed this whole debate well, making the first demands. That was something Harald would know without checking with his boss."

"Now, what are you going to do about it?" asked Astrid.

"Something crazy." A grin appeared on Hiccup's face. "What if we offer Snotlout something he can't refuse?"

"Like what?"

"Heather! As chief I can arrange that marriage, so I can offer it to him."

"Are you insane?" Astrid was confused. Did he actually mean that? "You know Heather will never agree to this, and Snotlout may be thick, but even he knows that."

"Hear me out. You said it yourself. It's probably because he got turned down, right. he also knows you and Heather are close. If he really is so madly in love with her, I think it might just work. And if it's not, at least this will be unexpected, and we can learn something from their reactions."

"Okay, Hiccup. Your call. But you're playing a dangerous game here."

"It's politics! Isn't that always the case?"

"Now, about something else, Hiccup. I don't know how long we are going to be on this island, but I think it may not get much more perfect, don't you?"

Hiccup looked up over the grass pod. A sloping hill lay before him, gently arching down. The greens rose up high. A few trees demarcated the edge of the grassy field. The son was in their backs. They felt the warmth piercing their skin.

"It's pretty perfect, yeah."

"It looks just like a delightful pillow don't you think?"

Astrid put her hand on his chest.

"yeah, I bet it feels like one too."

She pushed his chest over until they both laid on the ground beside each other. The guard who watched them from afar saw them disappearing and sped towards them. Just as Hiccup and Astrid were busy kissing each other deeply, they were rudely interrupted by an ugly-looking, yet fair-haired face staring up on them.

"I guess we won't get the privacy here. Let's get back." said Hiccup.

Meanwhile, at the hall, on the side where Snotlout and Harald were housed, a short instruction was conveyed. When Harald was done speaking to Snotlout he left the room. Snotlout walked towards the remains of the meeting hall in the centre of town. There he met Freya.

"Chieftess, are you alright?" asked Snotlout.

Freya stared blankly at the ashes.

"It is now a week since the fire."

"I'm really sorry. Did anyone get hurt?"

Freya fell into tears, her knees could no longer sustain her and she fell to her knees before the black crumbled ashes. She openly wept.

"I am so sorry, chieftess," said Snotlout. "I did not mean to upset you."

Snotlout turned around to leave her to her tears when Freya stopped him by saying:

"Don't leave, Snotlout! Please." Freya stood up again and tried to compose herself. Please, walk with me."

"Of course, chieftess." said Snotlout.

"Please, call me Freya. It was a week since a dragon attacked us and took away my mother. There was nothing we could do!"

Snotlout and Freya walked for some time together, and Freya felt rested. Her speaking to Snotlout really calmed her down. He was a strong man, knew what he wanted. She felt delighted being near to him. With each passing minute turning to hours she felt happy, and protected. She felt secure.

Snotlout started to feel awkward. He felt confident when she was with him. But he was vexed. When dusk settled in over the island he started talking to her about why he was here. He told her he had done something terrible, and that he wanted to set it right. But whatever he did it all seemed to worsen the situation.

"Then one day, I got home. It was just after the funeral of Chief Stoick, and my second-in-command betrayed me and lock me up."

Freya did not understand.

"But you just mentioned, Harald was your second-in-command."

"He is."

"So that means, …"

"I am only hear as a charade. I am still his prisoner."

They got near the chieftess' house. Freya invited him in.

Snotlout entered, and as she closed the door, Snotlout pressed a small kiss on her cheek. He immediately withdrew and backed off with a red face. Freya turned her head and kissed him right back, full upon the lips. Within a few minutes both no longer thought straight and fell half naked into the other's arms on the bed. The rest of the clothes followed not much later.


	19. Chapter 19: Message in a Bottle

Fishlegs and Heather were alone. Not that they minded. But still, Snotlout was taken away, and it had seemed this Harald character had completely forgotten about his other two prisoners. Still, every morning after dawn and every evening just before dusk, they were brought some bread and water. In the morning their buckets were emptied and replaced by clean ones. After all, the guards were under orders to keep the prisoners alive. No use getting them sick with diphtheria or starvation. They were actually pretty well cared for. It was just before dusk, the third night since Snotlout was taken, that they learnt from the guard that most of the army had left to assail a peace meeting.

Fishlegs was healing well. By this time most of the wounds on his back were closed up. The broken bones had been splinted and had started to heal. He would not be able to use his arms for some weeks still, but at least they were on the mend. Heather was not as lucky. The damage dealt to her was not physical. Every night she had nightmares about Harald and Snotlout taking her, time and time again. She was afraid to go to sleep. She was afraid to wake up only to find Snotlout or Harald with a grin on their faces and their trousers down. She stumbled to the back of her cell whenever the guards cleaned her bucket and brought her food. At times she would speak to Fishlegs in the opposite cell, but only in hushed whispers. She was strengthened by how well Fishlegs had taken his torture. Vaguely she remembered that those roles used to be the other way around, but now she could barely remember her own independence and confidence. Fishlegs wanted to hold her, tell her she was safe, but as a vexation as hard as the one of Tantalus, he could not touch her.

On the other side of the cell blocks the former chief of the Berserker Tribe sat quiet in his cell. He had endured many a year of torture and imprisonment by the hands of Drago Bludvist. He was thinking deeply. It was something Drago said to him when he locked him in this cell. "Just like you showed me no mercy, I will show you none. You rot in this cell forever." He could not remember. He and Drago had a history, but he could not recall what that might have been. He was so deep in thought he did not hear Valka calling for him.

"Oswald." she said "Oswald."

Oswald realized she called him.

"Valka!" he said "So sorry, did you say something?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I was just thinking."

"Is there something personal between you and Drago?"

"I think so," said Oswald. "But I cannot guess what is might be. Honestly I know for a fact I've never had dealings with Drago Bludvist before the meeting of the chieftains. So if there is something personal, he must have changed his name since then."

"Well, that must have been a long time ago then. How long has it been since the meeting?"

Oswald thought for a moment.

"It must have been about twenty-four years since then."

"So since you are forty-nine now, this must have happened when you were in your teens. If I remember correctly, that was before you were chief. Did something happen back then?"

"Not that I recall."

And that was pretty much the conclusion. Oswald was clueless. Something must have happened, but he could not put his finger on it.

One of the guards came to Fishlegs' and Heather's cells. He was alone. Usually they came in with five or more. He checked behind him to see if he was not followed. He walked up to Heather's cell and unlocked it. Heather backed away through the dirt on the ground and until she reached the wall.

"Miss Heather, please come with me." said the guard. "We need your help. Something is up with Windshear."

"What?" was all she could say.

"Please we don't have a lot of time. Come with me, now."

Fishlegs and Heather were both flabbergasted and did not know how to respond to this.

"Please, I am a friend of your father's. Come with me. No time to explain."

"Go, Heather," Fishlegs encouraged her.

Slowly Heather got up and walked after the guard.

"Wh… who are you?" she asked.

"Shush."

Heather and the guard walked quietly through the cells. They did not spot a single guard upon the way.

"This way." he said. He turned a right, until they came to the dragons pens.

"Windshear," Heather exclaimed in joy.

"Quiet, we don't want everyone to find out you're on the loose. Now do as I say, I have a piece of paper here, and a pencil. Now listen carefully. You have minute with your dragon. I cannot spring you from jail, but I just might get this razorwhip to escape. Write a letter. That's all I can do for you now."

Without question, Heather took the pencil and paper and wrote this note:

" _Dagur,_

 _Please, if you read this, get to Thor's Wrath as soon as possible. It's undermanned, but Fishlegs and I can't get out yet. Please, Dagur, hurry._

 _Heather_ "

The guard unlocked Windshear's cell. Immediately Windshear came out to Heather and a heartfelt hug followed. Heather attached the note to her left paw.

"Now, go girl. Find Dagur."

Windshear flew off, and Heather was grabbed by the guard.

"Good, now back to your cell. Someone will have seen the dragon take off."

When they were halfway back, they heard the alarm bells go off. Heather was quickly moved into her cell and locked up again. Right at that time several guards stormed into the cell block.

"All clear here," said the guard standing by Heather's cell.

It took a few hours for the hustle on Thor's Wrath's prisons to settle down. The guard walked towards the other side of the cell blocks, where he caught sight of Oswald.

"Oswald." he said.

"Olaf! I heard the bells, I guess everything went according to plan?"

"Yes, chief. Your daughter was very brave. She sent an message to Dagur. I'm sure he'll get here within a few days."

"Thanks very much, Olaf. I owe you big time. Tell me, how is she?"

"Recuperating. She was devastated. Raped many times by Snotlout and Drago. I don't know how she does it, but when I told her to attach the note to her dragon, I saw determination, a fearless lass."

Oswald smiled. "I have not seen her for many a year, does she know I am here?"

"No, chief. Though I did say I was a friend to you to earn her trust. I guess she still thinks you're dead, sir."

"Good, I don't want to bother her right now. She obviously has enough to deal with. Thank you so much."

Oswald thought for a moment.

"Olaf," he said, "Where is Drago now?"

"He's at a peace meeting with the chief of Berk. But last I heard, one doesn't sail to a peace meeting with the entire fleet at your heels."

"Berk!?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Valka, you know the old stories," Oswald's voice failed him.

Valka looked at Oswald in surprise. Did he really think it was him?

"Oswald, it can't be. No way. He is dead."

"Is he? Stoick said they'd never found the body."

"It can't be."

Oswald turned to Olaf. "Is there any way you can reach Stoick?"

"Sir, Stoick the Vast died a months ago. His son Hiccup is now the chief."

"What!?" said Valka. "Stoick is dead? Hiccup is chief?"

"Save questions for later. If what I think is true, we're in much bigger trouble. Do you have a means of communicating with Hiccup?"

"No," said Olaf. "Even the fastest dragons won't reach the island before it is overrun by Drago's forces – or whatever his name is. And I've just sent out your daughter's razorwhip, I doubt I can arrange another escape. Guards will have doubled."

"I understand." said Oswald. "Better to wait for Dagur then. We can't risk sending anyone to this meeting island, lest he be captured. And if Drago truly is who I think he is… He can't find out we know."

As soon as she left the prison, Windshear flew up high into the air. She had missed the freedom and the feeling of the air around her wings. She let out a roar of pure joy. But she also felt something else. Urgency, and hunger. Right now, the hunger was overwhelming, as none of the guards had dared to approach her to feed her. She soared down to the sea and grabbed a mouthful of fish. She ate it mid-flight. Now, off to that other feeling. Her rider and best friend was imprisoned in a dirty stinking cell, and Heather had asked her to send for help. She flew off to the south as long as she could. She flew through the night and just before daybreak she entered Berserker waters. There she flew on to the house the chief. She screeched as she flew over the town. The entire village ran out to see what the fuzz was all about. Dagur ran out with his axe drawn. He saw Windshear and ran towards her.

"Heather!" he yelled, but no response came.

Windshear screeched with another ear-shattering sound, and grabbed Dagur with her tail. She brought him to her left paw. Dagur saw there a bundle of paper attached. He took it off and read it. As soon as he had done so, he called to everyone nearby to prepare for immediate departure, and to prepare for war!


	20. Chapter 20: The Oath he Swore

"Dragon attack!"

"Dragons off the east coast!"

"Chief, three nadders have plundered the armoury!"

"The docks are on fire!"

"Chief, behind you."

The chief turned around and saw a great orange-hued monstrous nightmare flaming up in front of him. He tapped with his axe on his left hand to make the dragon strike first. The dragon spewed fire in his general direction. The chief jumped and rolled to the left to dodge the flames. Being in the blind spot of the nightmare, just aside from his face, he thrust his axe against the dragon's beak. The dragon yelped in pain, as blood gushed out of the wound. The dragon fired again at him, but the chief could not be hit at that angle.

But the chief was old, and a tad rusty. He stepped one step too far and touched the flaming skin of the nightmare. In a reflex he swung his axe, and it went straight into the dragon's neck, where it was lodged stuck. Blood poured out. The dragon shuddered, moved erratically, fired in every direction. After twenty seconds of pure agony, the dragon's soul left his body, and his lifeless body crumbled to the ground. The chief had a major burn wound. But that would not stop him.

"Hurray for Chief Hamish! Hurray for the Hooligan tribe!" yelled someone. The call was answered and repeated many times throughout Berk. The village heartened by the slaying of the nightmare chased the remainder of the dragons off. Every able-bodied man took up his arms and chased the dragons off. The two sons of Chief Hamish III, Hiccup Hooligan II and Hamish Harald III, were amongst them. Young Hamish, though twelve years younger than his older brother, was the spitting image of his father. A buff man, strong as a yak, and heavy as one too. He longed in everything to be the best. In this, he certainly did not see his older brother as an example. In fact, his brother was so different from the whole family that he even doubted whether he even was his brother. But somehow his father was uncannily fond of him. And truth be told, Hiccup might not be the best barrel in the storehouse, but he was great in making weapons. The contraptions he built could catch a dragon mid-flight, haul it to the ground and keep it unharmed enough to be used in dragon training. He was a natural leader and the whole town saw him as the future of Berk.

Hamish wanted that too. Was he not far stronger. Since he was old enough to step into the ring in hand-to-hand combat, he had Hiccup down within a minute. This man was no fighter. He was!

Most of the dragons retreated upon seeing the nightmare lifeless near the chief's hut. When Hamish ran through the village to help round up any more stray dragons, in a corner near the plaza he found a terrible terror, wounded at the wings. The beast could not fly. Hamish fearlessly approached him, and bound him. Quickly he ran home.

Once home, he locked himself inside his room. For two years he drilled the terror. It had a muzzle on him whenever he was not eating, and learnt to fear Hamish's voice and footsteps. Every day Hamish would come home and tell the terror something he needed to do. His education was simple. Do it, or get beaten. The terrible terror was broken after two years of torture. It would do anything Hamish to him to. It was then that Hamish for the first time learnt a whole new manner of power and strength. Strength of will over others.

As the age difference between him and his brother was huge, it was his cousin Stoick he mostly played with, though he never told him about his little enterprise. One day he and Stoick played hide and seek around the plaza. He hid inside a barrel of fish. Eventually Stoick found him, but thought he was cheating by hiding under fish. They got into a wrestling contest, which knocked over some of the barrels of fish. Ten barrels tumbled down the cliffs back into the water.

The chief was furious.

"It's time you learnt some discipline, boy." he told him. "And you two, Stoick. You want to be chief someday? Come here and prove it to me. You, Hamish, get yourself home, and stay there the next two days. Stoick, follow me."

The chief picked up a rock, and handed it to Stoick.

"Stoick, you are my grandson, and I expect more of you. I won't have much time left, and I expect you to support my son, your father as chief of Berk, in any way you can."

"Yes, Chief"

"Now takes this rock. Hit it to your head, as hard as you can, and you will see."

Stoick was a little flustered, but he trusted his grandfather completely. He thrust the rock against his head. Unsurprisingly he felt a lot of pain, as the rock was quite hard.

"How do you feel, Stoick?" asked the chief.

"Hurt, grandpa."

"Now look."

Stoick looked at the rock which had been there in his hands a second ago. Now it was broken, almost cut midway. Several pieces of smaller rock lay beside it in the palm of his right hand.

"Now, you are the future chief, Stoick. And a chief protects his own. Always remember that!"

Young Hamish had stayed halfway to look at his father and cousin. It seemed obvious. Stoick was to be chief so he wasn't punished. And he got two days' locked at home. He would make them pay. What if he were chief? He knew exactly what to do.

At night, he slipped out of his bed, and took the terrible terror with him. He took the muzzle off. There was no way the terror dared do anything without Hamish's permission.

Hamish walked into the armoury. There he heard his brother and father talking about weapon storage. Hamish had decided. He whispered "Fire" to the terror, and immediately the terrible terror set the place alight. It was improbable how much fire came out of so small a dragon, but it did the trick. A wall of fire covered the entrance before the chief and his son even noticed something was off. Stubborn as always, they still tried to get through the fire, but after a minute they fell unconscious from the smoke. He ran out, shouting "Fire!" and threw the terror somewhere out of sight. People hurried towards the armoury and passed buckets of water to quench the fire. Hamish left took the terrible terror back home.

Half an hour later the armoury was blackened, but no longer alight. Smoke still rose from the ashes. Dawn came early, and people started gathering as much from the armoury as they could salvage. That was when they found them. Underneath a pile of molten swords lay the blackened crest of the chief, and the burnt skeletons of the chief and his son. The flesh was no longer visible. A quick gathering of the townsfolk and only two people turned up missing, Chief Hamish Haddock III and his son, Hiccup Haddock II.

Stoick could not believe it. He was devastated. He had been one of the first on the scene and saw Hamish run away from the fire at first with a large bag or alike in his arms. Ten minutes later he'd been back. Stoick went to Hamish's house, when he wasn't home. There he found, on Hamish's bed, a terrible terror. It appeared docile, but Stoick did not want to take chances. This must have been what Hamish was hiding, and what he ran away for. He set it alight. He took up his axe and in one swift blow beheaded the dragon.

Just as he did that he heard footsteps upon the stairs. He heard Hamish mumbling to himself, whistling at times. He heard him say: "I'm gonna be chief, fina…" as the door opened. Stoick saw Hamish. Hamish saw Stoick, and it was clear he had been made. Hamish ran for the door. Stoick sprinted after him. Once outside Stoick called to the town.

"Get him! Don't let him get away! He murdered our chief!"

The townsfolk were stunned, then at the same time ran to block Hamish's way.

The blacksmith approached Hamish.

"Is this true? Are you responsible for the fire?"

"No!" he said.

"I found a terrible terror in his bedroom, and I saw him run away from the fire just after it started, carrying that dragon."

"It's not true!"

"I can show you the head of this dragon. I killed him myself." Stoick stood fast and steady as he said this.

Stoick continued. "As you killed both my grandfather and my father, I banish you from these waters. You will receive fifty whiplashes, and be gone by dusk. I don't care how you do it. Get off my island."

Hamish whimpered and ran away.

Within a few hours his back was sore from the whiplashes, and his hands were even sorer from the building of a raft. Hamish left Berk waters, and he would not return for nearly twenty-eight years.

After a three days riding the currents of the archipelago, he reached the shores of Berserker Island. But he found no refuge there. Olgast, the chief, had already heard of his crimes and wanted to house no traitor. He wanted to keep Berk friendly, and it appeared from everything Stoick tried to make his uncle's life a living hell. Hamish travelled through the archipelago, but found no refuge.

When he finally reached an uninhabited island he had decided.

"By Thor almighty, by Odin I swear, I will not rest until all these people bow to me. I will have my revenge and all who wronged be will suffer!"

In the ensuing four years he found a dragon nest. One by one he broke the dragons, until he met the alpha. A great bewilderbeast at the centre of an icy mountain. He showed him he commanded his own dragons. When the bewilderbeast could not take control, he bowed his head to him. Hamish altered his name to Drago Bludvist, after the one thing he controlled now. Four years after he was expelled from Berk and shunned from the Archipelago, he surfaced again, on a meeting of chieftains. He was quick and ruthless. He later learnt that Oswald and Stoick had escaped his net. Another four years later he succeeded in using a dragon to kidnap Valka, Stoick's wife. He wanted to make sure his life was ruined as much as his.

Now, he was nearly fifty years old. Twenty-eight years he had to wait for this moment, but now it had come. Stoick was dead, after he had poisoned him. Oswald was in his dungeon. All that was left was to destroy Hiccup Haddock III, and any hope Berk had left.

With a grin on his face he walked into the meeting hall on Rhineland Isle on the second day of the mediation. Today his troops would await his signal, as they the armada lay just out of view from the island.


	21. Chapter 21: The Oath he Kept

As breakfast passed, Hiccup and Astrid again sat around the great table. Opposite them sat Snotlout, and between them Freya. After a few minutes Harald walked in. He did not look pleased, but managed to sound convincingly sorry when saying:

"My apologies, chiefs, chieftesses, for being late."

"It's been forgiven." said Freya. "Now, yesterday we did not get very far, though let me summon it up for you. Chief Hiccup Haddock and Chieftess Astrid Haddock desire above all else the freedom of their friends, Fishlegs Ingerman and Heather Berserk, who are currently imprisoned on Thor's Wrath. Harald Ingvarsson and Snotlout Jorgenson desire recognition from Hiccup and the freedom to do as they please, whilst continuing to learn about the dragons. Does that about sum it up?"

Both parties nodded.

"Good, now. Yesterday I only heard Harald and Astrid. I understand that the chiefs would first want to see and observe the situation as it rises, but urge you both, Snotlout and Hiccup, to speak now. Hiccup, would you start the debate today?"

"Thank you Freya." said Hiccup. "Now I have trouble believing, Snotlout that the liberty of the people of Thor's Wrath would be your top priority. Especially since that has never been in doubt. Of course you may do as you will. I named you acting chief of the Vagabonds for a reason. You are their chief, and I trusted you to do that job to the best of your abilities. Now I know from earlier news that you have gone after Heather for personal reasons. In fact, I have received multiple complaints about it from her in person. Is not she what you desire, even now; and am I right in guessing that she turned you down, and you couldn't handle it. Isn't that why she is locked up? Tell me, Snotlout. Are your reasons really so selfless?"

Snotlout gulped. Hiccup had seen straight through his charade. What to answer him. He couldn't cave in. Not now. He had to be confident in his answering.

"Yes, I've always loved Heather. So what if I did?" Snotlout started. He was immediately sorry he said it. "I'm trying to be the best chief I can for my people. You know. You put me in charge. And yes, Heather and I have had our troubles in the past, but those are solved and buried."

"Buried? Snotlout, are they in jail or not?"

"Uhm, yes, I think so."

"You think so!? Snotlout. You better start telling the truth here. Do you want Heather?"

Snotlout could no longer contain himself.

"Yes! I want her, I want her so much. I'd do anything for her. I wanted her, and I took her."

Astrid gasped. Hiccup was dumbfounded. Freya was struck with surprise and disgust.

Astrid was the first to open her mouth. "What exactly do you mean, Snotlout, when you say you 'took her'?"

Snotlout fell quiet. Everything would come out now.

"You couldn't take it," said Hiccup. Disgust written all over his face. "You couldn't stop yourself, Snotlout. Is that the case? You forced yourself onto her. You raped her. Well that explains why we have not heard a word from Fishlegs either. What happened, Snotlout? Did he confront you after you were done with her?"

"No! No! No!" Snotlout fiercely shook his head. "No, you got it all wrong!" Snotlout couldn't handle it anymore.

"It's true. I couldn't control myself." Tears flowed over his cheeks at this time. He breathed heavily and barely spoke loud enough for the other four to hear him. "She found out I told you I had apologized to her in my letter. She attacked me in the meeting hall. I managed to corner her and disarm her. It was like I couldn't think straight. All I saw was her beautiful body. I could not stop myself, Hiccup. I am so sorry! Just before the fight started the hall was cleared out. Apparently Fishlegs tried to get in when I was fighting Heather, and my guards locked him in the brig. Hiccup, I am so sorry!"

Harald now interceded. "This is all completely beside the point. We, the people of Thor's Wrath wish Hiccup Haddock to leave us alone, and I believe we already made clear we mean business."

Freya looked at Snotlout. She actually felt sorry for him. She thought back to last night. How could anyone even refuse someone that good in bed? Wait, she was getting distracted.

"I think a short recess is in order," she said. "Be back in fifteen minutes."

Harald stood up from his chair quickly. He went outside, and jumped upon Shadowwing. "Up, you devil" he said. They flew across the ocean until they passed a small island. And indeed, there his fleet lay ready. He landed on the bow of the foremost ship. He told the captain:

"Pass the word. Take ten minutes and sail out to the island. Attack, round up everyone, but leave the chiefs to me. Watch out. They have dragon riders there."

He immediately turned around and flew back to Rhineland Isle.

Just in time he sat back down at the table.

Freya thought she would ask a daring question. She knew Harald had Snotlout somehow under his command, and she guessed she now knew how. But not yet.

"Tell me, Snotlout. Are you willing to surrender Heather and Fishlegs to Hiccup?"

"I am," Snotlout answered. "and please, Hiccup, I want to come home too."

Harald did not move a muscle, but was boiling inside.

"But sir, we need you." Harald said with as much politeness as he could muster.

"Really?" asked Freya. "You need him? What for? Haven't you practically ruled Thor's Wrath alone for the past few weeks, Harald?"

"Excuse me?"

Astrid looked stunned at Freya then at Hiccup. For verily it seemed Hiccup was not surprised at all. His gut feeling had been right all along.

"Ah, yes. I knew it." said Hiccup. "And I am guessing that it you who sent those letters to me, pretending to be Snotlout. This has clearly been planned for a long time. Tell me Harald, who are …"

"We're under attack!" Spitelout crashed through the roof onto the negotiating table. Twenty-five ships or more off the docks, chiefs. We don't stand a chance! Everyone leapt up from their seat and moved out. Harald ran out, mounted Shadowwing and found a place where he had a good view over his a victory it truly was. The forces of the sirens and the Dragon Riders were overwhelmed and within half an hour the island had surrendered. The Dragon Riders had been captured in nets one by one, until only Hiccup and Astrid remained. They surrendered upon seeing the overwhelming force of the Vagabond's fleet and army.

All were flocked together. The elders were gathered in the hall, and joined by Hiccup and the Dragon Riders. Snotlout had never left. All were bound and thrown to the side.

"Well, I never expected this would go this easy!" said the man walking in the doors. It was Harald.

"Now, Chief Hiccup. It is impolite to leave a question unanswered, so hearken to me. In my life I have gone by many names. To you I always was Harald Ingvarsson, mere soldier in the Dragon Hunter Army. Those Grimborn fools never even knew who I was. To some I am known as Drago Bludvist. But, to you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, I am Hamish Harald the Third, your great-uncle. Your father, Stoick the Vindictive, chased me out of Berk when he learnt I killed my father and brother. He made sure my life was living hell. I was a paria in the archipelago. No longer! Now, I am the master, and you will all listen to me.

Don't be afraid, Hiccup. I won't kill you …" A smile formed on his face. "yet," he added. "I will make your death a long and painful one, just like your father's. Guards, find the cells on this island and lock them up. Anyone who resists, or even opens his mouth, throw them of the cliffs."

Within the day, The island was completely overrun and controlled by the Vagabonds. Freya, Hiccup, Astrid, Spitelout, Snotlout, Sven, Bucket, Mulch and Gothi were imprisoned separately and none were allowed to speak. Snotlout opened his mouth once to ask for water, and he was repaid with ten whiplashes. They were not as bad as the ones given by Harald (or Drago, or Hamish, whatever his name really was), but they still wounded him deeply.

Hiccup had his hopes now vested in one person only. If only Dagur got his letter…


	22. Chapter 22: Family Reunion

Dagur, however, had many things on his mind, but Hiccup was not one of them. The fleet had set sail towards Thor's Wrath. After getting the letter, no real communication was possible with Dagur. He would do whatever it took to save his sister. She had probably risked her life in sending the letter, and he sure as hell was not going to leave her in that dreaded place for long.

"Coming up on Thor's Wrath sir!"

"Good! Sail into the harbour and unload, like it's business as usual."

"Aye, sir!"

And so they did. Slowly they approached the natural bay of Thor's Wrath. They moored the ships on the docks, when the first guard started coming down asking questions. Dagur was the first he met, and he was not in the mood for talking. Seconds later the guard fell into the water. Dagur and his army got off at the docks and swarmed the island, heading first for the prison cells. There they found the first real resistance of the day. A battle broke out. After ten minutes the alarm bells sounded and Dagur saw a terrible terror being sent off. Several Vagabonds had been severely wounded before the company surrendered to Dagur's forces. They were bound and rounded up before the meeting hall.

Dagur and his troops entered the prisons and it did not take a long time to find Heather and Fishlegs. On Dagur's order, Shattermaster crashed through the bars and Heather flew into Dagur's arms. She was overjoyed to see her brother again. They hugged closely. Meanwhile Fishlegs too was sprung from jail and added to the family, making it a group hug.

"Uhm, Chief?" said one of the guards running in. He was still panting due to his sprint. "What is it? Can't you see I busy doing very important brothering stuff?"

"You may want to see this for yourself."

Dagur sighed. "Fine," he said. He walked after the guard trough the prison. Heather and Fishlegs walked after him. Heather remembered the route from sending Windshear off.

"Where is Windshear, Dagur?" she asked.

"On the ship, she was completely exhausted when she came to Berserker Island. Underfed too. Took us some time to find enough sea slugs though. Can't your dragon eat something else?"

"Not when she's sick."

"Right, I know," said Dagur. "Shattermaster has the same, won't eat anything but sandstone if he's…"

Dagur stopped short.

"What is it, Dagur?" Heather asked. Then she looked ahead and saw the man in the cell.

"Dad!" they both shouted as they came near. The guard called Olaf came forward quickly to open up the cells containing Oswald and Valka.

"Dagur! Heather!" Oswald was beside himself with joy. The three collapsed into a hug and very few words were said. Dagur had finally found his father. After all those years.

"I am so happy so see you two again," said Oswald. "I've been so worried. But I always knew I could count on you, Dagur."

"Well," Dagur hesitated. "Thanks, dad."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was only fifteen when I became chief dad, and I may or may not have used you mysteriously disappearing to make everyone think I was tough, and killed you. Nor may or may I not have been at war with Hiccup for two years. But that's all over now. Thanks to Shattermaster."

Oswald had expected something like this. Dagur had never been an easy child, always wanting to prove himself by pulling the craziest stunts, but now he was confused. Happy Dagur grew up, but confused anyway.

"Who is this Shattermaster?" Oswald asked.

Dagur whistled, and a gummy looking green dragon, came out of the tunnels running like a little dog with his long tongue sticking out. Oswald was terrified, and backed away.

"That's a… a… dragon?"

"Dad, Shattermaster. Shattermaster, Dad!" said Dagur.

As soon as introductions were done Shattermaster sprinted over to the confused and terrified looking Oswald. He stood over him, took out him long tongue and started licking the former Berserker chief. His saliva ran all over his body, and very soon Oswald was drenched in it.

"Okay, okay, you big boy." said Dagur. "Maybe another time. I don't think my dad has time for playing right now."

Shattermaster gave a single lick all over Dagur as well, then walked aside. Dagur wiped some of the gronckle's saliva off him and onto the walls. He turned to his father.

"He likes you!"

"He… likes me?" Oswald was beyond words. "That is … a dragon." he repeated.

"Yup. And we're best buddies, aren't we, Shattermaster?" Dagur padded the gronckle who in turn moaned with pleasure. Oswald did not know how to respond. He actually believed his son had completely lost it. Then he turned to Heather, and saw the loving eyes he had missed for so long.

"You're not losing it dad," she explained. "We don't just use dragons. We ride them. They're our best buddies! I have Windshear, Fishlegs has Meatlug and Dagur has Shattermaster."

All Oswald could say was: "How?" Valka sat by and enjoyed the scene unfolding in front of her. She had bonded with dragons years ago, but had never told Oswald in those long years in jail together. But she was curious as to how three people, barely out of their teens managed it.

"Yes," she said. "How?"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs said enthusiastically. "One day there was a dragon raid and he shot down a night fury!"

Heather interrupted him: "Come on, sweetie, you don't have to tell them everything that happened over the last five years. I'll sum it up. Hiccup shot down a night fury, but couldn't kill it. He learnt he could train and ride it and saw a whole new world with dragons. Took down the alpha controlling the raids on Berk, started a war with my brother and Alvin, made peace and had a yearlong war with guys called dragon hunters, who live on this very island. Made peace again, taught them how to ride dragons, married and lived happily ever after, I guess. Don't know what he is up to now, actually.

"Hiccup?" asked Valka, surprised. "Do you mean the son of Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk?"

"Yes, you know him?" asked Heather.

"Heather," Oswald answered for her, "Fishlegs, Dagur. This is Hiccup's mother, Valka Haddock!"

"But you were dead!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Eaten by dragons when Hiccup was only a baby!"

"Taken, yes." said Valka. "But not eaten. I can assure you, I still have all my limbs."

"Heather," said Dagur "Hiccup isn't alright. He went to a meeting with Snotlout to negotiate your release. Since you got a letter out saying where you were, I came here myself."

"But Snotlout is not in charge here, Dagur." Fishlegs said. "Well, he was, until he was thrown in jail himself. A guy called Harald is in charge now."

Oswald shook his head. "No, his name is not Harald. He kept that name only as a disguise. His name is Drago Bludvist, who killed eleven chieftains on a single day, twenty-five years ago."

Valka added: "Yes. He captured me when he started controlling all the dragons I lived with."

Oswald looked at her pitifully. "And I believe he is someone else too. A castaway. A bad memory from a distant past."

Valka interceded. "Yes. His real name, one he has not used for almost thirty years, is Hamish Harald Haddock the Fourth. He is Stoick's uncle, though only a few years older. He was banished from Berk by your father when he killed his brother and father, Stoick's father and grandfather."

"Yes," said Oswald. "We must move quickly, or my guess is that Stoick is in grave danger."

"Dad," said Dagur. "Stoick was poisoned by this Drago Bludvist and died a few months ago."

Oswald took a moment to ponder. This was a lot of news, a lot of disturbing news. After a minute he sighed.

"So, let me get this straight. Hiccup is currently on another island negotiating with Snotlout and his great uncle, thinking he only has to deal with Snotlout. Meanwhile Hamish is the one who pulls the strings. He's killed most of the chieftains twenty-five years ago, kidnapped me and Valka, and poisoned Stoick. Now he knows how to ride dragons, and force them too – I still can't believe it. This is bad. Very bad. Hamish has a grudge against Berk. Stoick went through great lengths to make his life hell. He was called Stoick the Vindictive for a reason. We need to get to this island. Do any of you know where it is?"

"I've got a map, Hiccup sent me in case something was off and I needed to send aid." Dagur told him.

At that moment a terrible terror flew through the tunnels and landed on Heather, uttering a little squawk and showing her his paw. He carried a message from Berk.

Heather took the paper off the terror and read it. It took a time to realize what it said, then she read aloud:

" _Ello Hether,_

 _I hoap u are better now, lass. Hurt from the twins u wer sick. Johann an' I of jus returned fro' are trip to, well, efriwear. We foun' no curr, an' it seams as weer tu late, wif Stoick passin' an' all._

 _Weave hurt noffin fro' 'Iccup an' weer wurried. Meat os on Ou'cass' isle fer to a meatin'. We mus' doo sumfin._

 _Seeya,_

 _Gobber_ "

Dagur looked around. "Fishlegs, Heather, Dad, Valka. Are strong enough to travel?"

"Aye." they all said.

"Good. Heather, Dad. You take Windshear. She's in a boat on the docks. Valka, Fishlegs, take Meatlug. We're off to Outcast Island."

They walked out of the prison and Dagur gave final orders. A hundred men to stay on the island, the rest to meet him at Outcast Island. Within half an hour the three dragons were up in the air, and on their way for the meeting. If only they could save this disaster from happening.


	23. Chapter 23: Completely Nuts

**Author's Note: Sorry, title did not fit in the text box. Real title to this chapter is:**

 **Treacherous, Deranged and Completely Nuts**

"Well, you're an odd bunch, I grant you that. But I see no benefit in it for me. You can't take out Hamish, and even if you could you'd be stuck with a traitor – again. Then the whole fiasco will start over again in some twenty-odd years. I stood by him, Gobber. For two years we travelled across the Archipelago, Stoick and I, warning people of the danger his uncle posed. Asking around if anyone had seen him. Stoick regretted expelling him from the first moment. He should have killed him then, and he knew it. It's too late, Gobber. Stoick is dead. I cannot help you."

Alvin paced to and fro in his private quarters. He glanced over the gathering in his house. A grand total of five Vikings, and they had absolutely outdone themselves this time.

To the front of them all was Gobber, standing on one foot and one wooden leg, trying to convince him to go to war. In one hand he held his axe. Well, in his hand… It was locked in place anyway. His left hand he used to motion and try to give his arguments more strength, at which he failed utterly. Behind Gobber stood Boarlegs Ingerman, a man whose neck, if he even had one, nobody had ever found. Yet as was famous for the Ingerman line, let's just say he was 'husky'. He kept a sword on his belt and he even wore armor. Not much though, just a helmet and shoulder plates.

Then there were the twins. Alvin had met them of course, but to see them here. He could hardly believe that the rule over Berk had been in the hands of these two, since Hiccup was off! There they sat. On the right, Tuffnut, recently made priest of Odin of all things, holding his chicken in one hand, and a bright and shiny mace in the other. Somehow he always seemed to be talking to either one of those. At times it appeared the chicken actually communicated with him, and the way Tuffnut behaved towards his mace, it would not surprise him if that shiny blunt started talking as well.

On the left was Ruffnut. You could tell the difference between the two, by what they were carrying. As Tuffnut was the one with the mace and chicken, the other one had to be Ruffnut. But that was pretty much it. She did not say much, but continued to look at the last member present in this house. Well, look may be an understatement. Stare might be more nearer the mark. Using small steps she got closer and closer and almost touched the upper muscles of her neighbour. He most definitely was unreceptive of her advances.

For the last of the company had been thrown ashore by the waves. Shipwrecked again. His former second-in-command, Savage, was here inside his living room; with a serious lack of hygiene that could challenge Gobber.

"But even if I were able to help you, what would be the plan? Please, enlighten me. How are we going to outthink one who has orchestrated everything that has happened over the last twenty years?"

A terror mail had come from Dagur that morning, saying he was on his way with Valka, Fishlegs, Heather and Oswald to Outcast Island. In the letter was explained who they were dealing with, and that Hiccup was by now, most likely at his mercy.

Gobber sighed, and remained quiet. He had no idea. A guard came in, telling Alvin three dragons were sighted, with riders on top. Alvin told him to bring those in need of healing to the elder and the rest to his hut. It was about to get crowded.

"I know," Tuffnut began, "We can set them up against each other. You said there were four people: Harald, DB, Hamish and Drago Bludvist. We can put them against each other."

"You idiot," said Ruffnut. "Someone has not been paying attention. DB is Drago Bludvist. So there are only three people."

"Ah." said Tuffnut, "I still don't get it. But we can still set them up against each other!"

"No, you bumbling set of morons," Gobber said. "They're all the same! And they … I mean, he commands an entire army of dragons, from what Hiccup told us at the funeral."

The twins looked at each other and Tuffnut said:

"So we get to the dragons, make them really, really angry."

"No problem, we anger everbody," agreed Ruffnut.

"Do you really?" said Alvin, fuming.

"And then the dragons attack all these guys," said Tuffnut.

"And boom. Drago Bludvist and Harald and Hamish will all run their mommies! Boom!" Ruffnut added with her hands high as to illustrate the height of some sort of really weird explosion.

Gobber shook his head. "Right, boom. Can you be quiet for one moment?"

"Sure, shut down the Nut Idea Farm. I'm telling you, there is gold in here…" Tuffnut knocked on his head. Obviously not satisfied with the sound, knocked on his sister's head, which earned him a right one in his side. "… somewhere." he added.

"Now for a real plan…" Gobber began.

"Not so quick, Gobber!" They all turned around and Dagur, Heather and Oswald standing in the doorway. Oswald approached Alvin, and the two gave each other a chiefly welcome. One arm locked to the other, the free slapping the other on the back. "It's been a long time, Alvin!"

"Glad you're still alive, Oswald."

"But about this plan, the kid may have a point." Oswald told the rest. "Without the dragons, Hamish has no power. Without the dragons he has nothing to keep people afraid. So if we turn the dragons against him, there would not be a problem, would there?"

"Except, we don't know where the dragons live." said Bearlegs.

"I think I can help with that." Dagur came forward, and continued, "One of the last letters I got from Hiccup told of how he managed to read a ship's log on some icy island off Rhineland Isle."

"Okay," said Gobber, "But how can we get those dragons to turn on Hamish? And we still need a lot of manpower before we can think of taking the island. That's where we need you, Alvin."

"Well, I do have the manpower, yes," said Alvin. "But I only know as much about dragons as when Astrid and Hiccup were here and, well, showed me. You get a way to make the dragons attack, and I'm in."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem?" said a woman's voice.

"Shouldn't you be in bed now?" asked Oswald.

"No, as I hear, I'm needed here far more. For those of you who do not remember – won't blame you – I am Valka Haddock, Stoick's wife." The woman stepped forward.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut started laughing uncontrollably. They patted anyone nearby on the shoulder, and barely stood straight up.

"Is something funny? We'd love to join in the fun?" Alvin asked them.

"Well, haahahah," started Tuffnut, "it's just, aaahaha …"

"It would be hahaha," continued Ruffnut, "… hahaha funny, if it were haahhahahah, Loki Day!"

After that was said the twins immediately stopped laughing. The sudden change was so ludicrous Gobber couldn't hold back a snort. The twins continued very seriously now.

"But it's not. So, no Lokiing for you, lady." said Ruffnut.

"Yeah, lady. Who are you really, and what do you want with Chicken?" Tuffnut added.

Heather rolled her eyes.

"Just ignore those two, Mrs. Haddock. By the way, sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, Heather." said Valka. "Now what a lot of you don't know – not even you Oswald – is that I was never kidnapped by Hamish, or Drago Bludvist. I was carried away by a dragon, a raincutter I named Cloud Jumper. He was afraid I'd die in the fire, so he brought me to safety in his nest. I saw how different these creatures were, how gentle and kind, and decided to stay to protect them, against people like Drago, as I knew him then. But after three years, Drago invaded the island, tore down the icy walls, captured me and tortured the alpha into submission. A great bewilderbeast it was. Get me close enough, and I'll make the dragons fight this murderous traitorous outcast – no offense, Alvin."

"None taken." Alvin concluded. "It's settled then. I'll marshall the army. Dagur, am I right in guessing your troops are on their way as well?"

"Yes."

"Good. They can join up them. Savage!" Alvin looked straight at the man now.

"Will you do as you are told?"

"Aye sir."

"Good. You will take a small amount of soldiers, set foot on the far side of the island and set a fire to the woods, just outside the town. Oh, and before you leave, take a bath."

Alvin checked with his companions now.

"So, as soon as we see the fire spread in the forest: that is our signal. Then Dagur's and my troops will swoop in by the docks. Valka, you get to this island mentioned by Dagur and get the dragons riled up. Time frame as follows. We leave after Savage has taken a bath. In five days sailing, so I gathered, we reach Rhineland Isle. Valka, you and Heather fly ahead to this island but wait for midday on the sixth day. Get the dragons to attack Hamish by dusk. Savage and his man will land on the island at dusk, and set the fires within as soon as possible. The troops stationed on the island will deal with the fire, when the dragons move in. As soon as we see the dragons, the boats unload on the docks, and we deploy troops. We have more than enough men and dragons to overcome them. Oh, and Valka, while you're flying up there, please leave the dockworks intact."

"Sure, Alvin. Pains me to share the fun though."

It took some time before Alvin was satisfied about Savage's hygiene, and therefore it took over an hour before the ships left port. Valka and Heather went together to the icy island, and brought the map and letter Hiccup had sent to Dagur. They took it easy, as both were flying on Windshear, and rested for lunch and night. After four days they approached Rhineland Isle. It was night-time but still they flew high up so none would spot them. It took about another hour flying south when Valka spotted the island.

"I know this place, Heather. This is the same nest, I was brought to, twenty-one years ago."

They flew down and made sure there was no-one present. Indeed there were some docks, but no ships were moored there. There was no use, frankly. Rhineland Isle had been overrun, so why attack with dragons at all?

Valka dismounted. Heather on Windshear and Valka beside her walked over the makeshift docks towards a small opening in the ice. On the way here Valka had told Heather all about her time among the dragons, especially about the bewilderbeast. It was a great white-hued dragon with many giant feather-shaped fangs like hair almost. It was a tidal-class dragon that spat ice instead of fire. Most important of all, it was an alpha species, which means that if need be, they can mind control other dragons in the vicinity.

"Now, don't you worry, Heather. I'm positive Windshear will be safe." she said as they entered into a roughly hewed tunnel. "Iceblast knows me. I gave him that name when I came here. I had to call him something, and Iceblast seemed fitting."

Heather led Windshear on after Valka. After a while the tunnel widened and eventually opened up to reveal a great cavern, if cavern was the right name for it. It was light, greens all around, great pillars of plants grew near the icy walls. In the centre was a pool of water, and in the midst of it lay a white heap. As they got closer they saw the giant shape of the bewilderbeast take form. Valka let out a low growl, that sounded like a dragon call, but fainter, and yet far more penetrating. The sound passed through Heather's bones and she shivered. Valka beckoned to Heather. The great bewilderbeast rose up and saw Valka standing in front of him, bowing low. He looked aside and saw Heather on her razorwhip. Both had followed Valka's example. Heather, at least. For Windshear it was no more than natural then to bow to her alpha.

Iceblast let out a small sigh of sorts, and a cool wind passed Heather. A little ice was stuck to her as the wind passed.

"He likes you." said Valka. "But look! He wears coughs and is chained. Look at those scars. Oh, Iceblast, what have they done to you! Heather, can Windshear use her tail to slice open those coughs and binds?"

"Sure, no problem!" said Heather. She pointed to the binds. "Windshear, tailslash."

A few minutes later the bewilderbeast was completely free to move. It seemed to notice that, but it dared not move. So many years of submission had passed. That had an effect on a dragon. Dawn had already passed, that meant they had only a day to get Iceblast to send the dragons off.

Meanwhile, Savage was making good progress. He came early to the shores of Rhineland Isle and managed to get ashore before dawn. Now he and his men were scouring the island stealthily to find the best spots to light a fire, without making themselves known, or alerting anyone on the island before dusk. Surely they found it. The town was laid directly at the forest. Savage was however a bit in doubt after seeing the layout of the island. The docks faced north. In fact the entire village was at the north end of the island. And they needed to prevent the fire reaching the docks at all cost. Meanwhile he knew the island where the dragons would come from lay to the south of them. So he couldn't set the fire on the south edge of town, the dragons would be spotted far too early and the jig would be up. Luckily a strong west wind was blowing. He and his men would set the fire around the centre of the island, just west of the town.

Dusk fell over Rhineland Isle and they executed this plan. Spread over a mile in distance fires were started. He'd done his task, and went back to the ships as quickly as possible. No sign of dragons yet though. He heard the alarms go off.

To Heather it appeared Valka was talking almost, and the dragon was talking back. It had been going on for hours now, and light was fading.

"Valka. We need to hurry. Dusk is upon us. Will he send the dragons?"

"Yes, he will. He has been hurt, badly hurt, Heather."

"I understand, but we must send the dragons now!"

Valka let out a great growl and Iceblast took it over. A roar far greater that any either one one of them had ever heard. Heather let Windshear back outside and saw great masses of dragons gathering. Over a hundred were gathered already and more were coming. A dragon with two pairs of wings came straight towards the entrance. As Valka came out she let out a shout of relief, when she saw the four-winged brown dragon with an owl-like face touch down before her.

"Cloud Jumper! You survived! I'm so glad to see you again."

She jumped onto the raincutter. Both she and Heather took off onto the mass of dragons nearby. Valka let out another roar as dusk engulfed them, then they set off northward again. A grand total of about five hundred dragons were gathered and followed the lead of Valka and Cloud Jumper. Heather but followed in amazement.

An hour later they arrived at Rhineland isle. Heather was the first to open fire, which she did high up in the sky. That was the sign Alvin had waited for. All of the dragons charged down at the village, which was completely taken at unawares. They'd been busy putting out fires when all of a sudden no stars were visible and fire poured from the sky. Heather blasted her way through several lines of Vagabond soldiers, and blasted to bits a door to a building that seemed to have been made recently, and in a hurry. Several dragons had followed her and were now setting the hall aflame. Many came out running through the no-longer-present door. The last to pass the dais Heather recognized. "Harald!" she yelled to him. "Or should I call you Hamish? Whatever your name is. I have something for you. Windshear, grab him."

Hamish was too afraid to do much about it. He had seen his masterwork go up in smoke. The dragons had turned on him. Impossible! This girl was supposed to be secured in jail. She was broken, both mentally and physically. She had no will or strength left. And now she was riding her razorwhip again? Windshear took hold of Hamish with her claws, and they flew away.

Heather had no intention of being merciful, or extending his life any longer. She flew up high above the cliffs. Then she told him:

"Hamish. I know that is your true name. Oh, to hell with it. Let's keep it short. Goodbye! Windshear, drop!"

As commanded, the razorwhip released the burden from her claws. Hamish realized this was it, as he started falling down. The winds, starting off as a westerly breeze, gained in strength as he fell down. The air raced past him as he approached left the clutches of the dragon. He continued to look up and saw only a hooded rider on a razorwhip dragon, glowing from the fires below. All he saw from Heather's face was a smile. He blacked out at that moment. His body shut down and moved erratically. A scream was heard piercing the sky. Next was a hushed thud and a splash. Hamish's body had broken on the shoals nearby the cliffs. He had fallen over two hundred feet. The water carried away the remains.

By morning the fires had been doused, the dragons returned to Icewing and the Vagabond soldiers surrendered to Alvin. The jails had been broken open, and the prisoners released.

Two months of healing followed. Not just for the town either. Heather, having killed Hamish herself, found that it did nothing to help her in recuperating from the torture she had endured.

The town was rebuilt, surely, but the wounds were deep. Hiccup and Astrid could barely stand, after having been tortured in Hamish's cellar – just for fun – for several days. Snotlout had a long conversation with Heather and Hiccup. He apologized to her, and him. Still, Hiccup was in a tight spot here. He was told the story of Hamish by his mother and Oswald, and knew expelling Snotlout from the tribe – something he more than deserved – would only repeat history.

He did expel him from the tribe though, but unlike his father had done with Hamish, he offered him an alternative. He decided to place him under the care of Freya. The two of them had gotten very close, more so in prison.

"This may just be exactly what he needs, Astrid," Hiccup said to her after he made his decision. "This whole thing started with jealousy. He has been punished enough by Hamish I deem, and if I deny him his love for Freya, I guess I'll only make it worse."

Astrid was a bit disappointed, and Heather still demanded recompense, but Hiccup's decision was final. Both eventually agreed his decision was just, and offered Snotlout a way to better his life.

Heather, Dagur and Oswald were welcomed back on Berserker Island as heroes. No Berserker had ever hoped to see Oswald again, especially since his own son had spread the very rumour he was killed.

Rhineland Isle held a memorial service for the loss of Chieftess Ingrid. She was never located afterwards, and was presumed dead. Two months later, that suspicion was confirmed by Hiccup, after finding Hamish's diary.

Hiccup was especially proud of the twins. After he heard that in fact the Thorston siblings had come up with the plan of attacking Rhineland Isle, he gave a feast in their honour, with one added bonus: every year on Loki Day, the twins would be acting chief.

Six months after the battle Astrid gave birth. Already in prison, Gothi told Astrid she was pregnant. Six months later she gave birth to a beautiful daughter.

 **Author's note: That was the final chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it at least. This is the first real story I've written. If you have any comments, tips or remarks, please let me know! I love some good criticism.**

 **Now, during writing this stuff, I've never reread any chapters after I've written. I just posted them directly. I'm sorry if there have been many spelling mistakes or things that simply don't add up. I did make a genealogy before writing the whole stuff about Hamish IV. Sorry about all the numbers there. But hey, I'll read it in the reviews I guess!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Greets,**

 **Raoul**


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